PokeSync
by Shieb
Summary: Ever since the farm burned, Sondra avoided Pokemon, focusing on trying to support her and her mother while living in Canalave. A little trickery from her friend, however, not only lands her with a fluffy Pokemon of her own, but introduces her to a surprising new technology. The question is, what will she do with it?
1. Chapter 1

My alarm always went off at 6:30. Who wakes up at 6:30? And I always turned, hit the button on the clock's top to shut it up, and then smile ironically while saying 'good morning'. Then I turn back around and fall right back asleep.

I only get up when the alarm tells me to if I figure I've got something to do. If I were like most children, who went to frolic with Pokémon at the miniscule age of 10, I might have something to do every day. But I'm not a Pokémon person, and adventure isn't my lifestyle. Now, five years after that not-so-fateful birthday, I've told my mother that I'll just find a normal job and help pay the bills, like any grown adult should. She worries that I didn't allow myself time to be a child.

As if I ever had time to be a kid. When I finally wake up in the morning, I'm reminded of it. There's a picture of Dad and Mom and the rest of our once-extensive family, smiling happily at the camera with a giant breeding farm behind us. I'm in mother's arms as a baby, swathed in cloth and staring off to who knew where. They said I was like that as a child- always staring at things nobody could see.

Then, after looking at the picture, I'd get up and go through my routine. I'd brush my teeth, then my hair, find a clean set of clothes from the floor, and wash my face, all the time thinking about what it could have been like. We lived at that farm for a good few years, or at least until I was three. Then something happened, everything fell apart, the breeding farm was destroyed, and we were plummeted into poverty, which Mother struggles with every day. Father died soon after the farm was lost, and the family scattered so that the burden wouldn't be so heavy on everyone.

But enough about a dismal past I can't even remember. You didn't come here hoping to read some depressing shit, did you? Let's move onto my 'exciting' day. Or, at least, that's what Mom says about every day. I honestly don't know how she manages to smile as much as she does.

I come downstairs, and she immediately swarms me with 'good mornings' and chipper greetings, as well as hopes that I'll have an extremely wonderful day. Being generally more serious than my mother, I return her smiles with a few less dazzling ones of my own and don't return her optimism.

"You hungry?" She sings happily from the kitchen. As always, the woman has already cooked for three, even though there's only two of us.

"Yeah."

"Ok!"

The smell of sausages, eggs, and French toast permeates the entire downstairs, and I begin to wonder how I missed it while I was snoozing upstairs in my room. As usual, I find where my mother has hidden the newspaper- she hopes I'll give up on finding a suitable job- and set up some tea in the kitchen before going to the dining table and waiting for the pot to boil.

"There's a place open just down the street. The Poke' Dining Plaza needs a couple extra cooks and waiters."

"That would be alright. If you could cook," My mother says as she puts down a plate of wonderful-looking food before me.

Under normal circumstances, I would have objected to my mother bashing my hopes of getting a job and helping her survive. Even with a plate of exquisite breakfast food in front of me, it only took a couple mornings of this to realize that Mother did this every time I announced a potential job. It didn't matter how perfectly suited I was to the task, it wasn't good enough. But in this case, where I was capable of burning water, I had to agree with my mother's opinion and give up the idea of being a cook or anywhere near food.

"A golfer needs a caddie."

"That'll be taken before you even get to applying."

"Pokémon matches need referees."

"You have to understand Pokémon first, and you haven't even partially looked at Pokémon since you were four," She replied with a sour tone.

"Ooh, I could get paid to be a student at a school here."

"Yeah? What for? Two bucks an hour?"

"And the city needs another paperboy."

"Eat your food before it gets cold, honey."

She sits down across from me, setting down her own plate, and I resign from my job search with a sigh, folding and tossing the paper. Not that my stomach is complaining. I get the feeling it's seriously considering eating itself.

"So, what are you going to do today?"

Oh, here we go. She asks this almost every time, but my answer's the same. I'll manually search for a job, to which she'll protest.

'Go in the sun. Have some fun for once!' she'll tell me. I'd feel more obliged to have fun if I wasn't worried about my mother so much. She acts like nothing's wrong, but… Well, nothing's been right since we lost the farm. I don't know how she survived without Father.

Thankfully, the door opens at the moment that I'm stuffing my face with food, hoping not to answer. We both turn to look and see Gale, my friend, standing in the doorway. He smiles and waves after closing the door, and then looks at me, suddenly frowning.

"Hoping to impersonate a chipmunk?" he asks, raising a brow.

"Thuh uh," I manage before seriously focusing on chewing.

"Ok… Good morning, Ma'am."

"Good morning, Gale. Come to kidnap my daughter for the beach?"

"Mom, quit encouraging me to have a normal teenage-hood!" I protest after swallowing painfully.

"Perhaps the meadow, then?" Gale suggests.

"And you're encouraging her," I glare, but he just laughs.

"Well, hurry up and leave!" Mother says, standing up to take away my plate, half of the food on which I hadn't even eaten.

"I'm not done with that," I exclaim, and my stomach loudly agrees with me.

"So find food out there. Explore," She says stubbornly, and walks off with my plate.

"That woman…" I sigh.

But Gale and I are soon off, despite my lingering hunger. Gale seems to think it's amusing, but I'm looking for the nearest place to eat. He offers to pay, which stifles my appetite. I don't like other people paying for me. We wander through the streets of Canalave, most of which border the docks. Water is everywhere in this city.

"So, what are you going to do today?"

"Oh, not this again," I sigh almost painfully, and he laughs.

"Cheer up. At least I'm not trying to blackmail you into abandoning me."

"Well, when you put it that way. And what about you, anyway? Why is it that you failed to go off on your own adventure 6 years ago?"

"Well, first I was waiting for you. And then I found out you weren't going, and I figured I'd get bored without some form of entertainment."

"Oh, screw you!" I say loudly, shoving Gale off to the side. He always did have a habit of picking on me, whether it was about how much higher he was than me, or anything else under the sun.

Gale and I have known each other for perhaps 9 or 10 years. My family and I lived in Hoenn on the farm, then it burned down, and perhaps two years later, most of us moved into the Sinnoh region. My mother and I have been living in Canalave City ever since. Then Gale and I got in a fight in school, raging over some toy or another. It was at the same exact moment that we both proved we were strange children. When the teacher came to scold us about fighting, we each stopped pulling on the toy and smiled at the teacher before laughing. We were friends ever since.

When I look at him, I see scruffy black hair and a collar on his shirt that's always half folded. His apparel is generally unkempt, but he still somehow gives off a sense of a very neat young adult. I'll never understand it. It's not like me, the girl who scares off children by glancing over at them, apparently.

"Still looking for a job?" he asks.

"Yeah."

"Jeez."

"What's that tone about?"

"Well, I thought you'd do something other than pretend to be the adult in the house for a day."

"Mom does what she can."

"And you're both still alive."

"How long will it last? Another pair of helping hands won't hurt anything."

"Except for your chance of ever having a single adventure in your life."

"Oh, Gale. If you really want to travel the world, don't let me stop you."

"Alright, if we could stop messing with each other for a second-"

"I was being entirely serious, thank you."

"-if you're going to get a job, you're going to need a Pokémon."

I stopped walking for a moment, squinting past the light that reflected off the nearby waters to look at Gale. He looked somewhat pale, which didn't make any sense, since he got out more than I did. Despite the interference, though, I could tell he was serious.

"Don't tell me Mother hired you to convert me."

"No, she didn't. That's not to say she hasn't tried. I'm speaking seriously here. Even if you don't go off on any adventure, a lot of the work here either needs Pokémon, or you can gain a lot of respect just for having one."

"Gale, if I get a Pokémon, Mom's just going to push for it again."

"And I don't blame her, seeing as her husband's dream disappeared in the fire."

I look down at the pavement when he says this. Yeah, there was that. But Gale just kept talking, as if he didn't notice my guilt.

"But she's dealt with your disobedience thus far. I think she can stand it a little longer."

I look up at him again, and he smiles a bit. Then he puts his hand on my shoulder and directs me to a rather large crowd, pointing. There are a couple of people lined up to try something, though I'm not sure what. Most of the people are just a gathered crowd, a group of spectators curious to see what's going on.

"See them?" Gale says. "There's a big fuss over a machine in there that a group of scientists want people to try out. They say it'll bring you even closer to your Pokémon, but no one here's been able to make it work yet. The group also promises a big fat paycheck for the person who figures it out."

"Sounds like a hoax to me," I said flatly, trying to see past the crowd without being obvious.

"You and your mother are never going to get along." Gale laughs, messing with my hair to annoy me. "She wants everything to do with you having a Pokémon adventure, and you want nothing to do with it."

"Gale!" shouted someone, and we both turned to look. It's Jerry, Mr. Larch's assistant. He waves, and then leans over to pant. To make it easier on him, Gale and I walk up to him.

"Hi Jerry," I say.

"What's up? You look exhausted," Gale commented.

"I was helping Mr. Larch with some field research," Jerry gasped before trying to steady himself. "He suddenly called me on my phone and told me he found some strange readings, and that he'd need both you and I to look over it, Gale."

"Oh boy." Gale sighed. Then, turning to me, he said:" I gotta go, sorry. Happy job hunting, Sondra."

"She's _still_ looking for a job?" Jerry said in surprise, but he was quickly dragged off by Gale.

I would have turned away and tried to forget Jerry's embarrassing jab at me, if it weren't for me hearing something drop. My attention readjusted to see that Gale had dropped the keys to Mr. Larch's house.

It was difficult to make a decision here. Gale is my best friend. I know him well enough to know that he dropped those keys on purpose, and he knows that I won't just leave them to be picked up by some random stranger or pulled out by a freak tide. But Mr. Larch is also an old friend of my mother's, one of the few who moved near us. He kept a few of my father's old Pokémon, and did his best to recreate the farm, though he failed miserably at it. Mother now constantly tries to get me to go to Mr. Larch so that I can get a Pokémon of my own, and even sort of from my father.

Do you see the set up? Because I did in a second. I didn't know if Jerry was hired to come in at such a convenient time, but I did know that Gale had dropped his keys knowing I would pick them up and give them back to him at Mr. Larch's house, and then ask for a Pokémon because I may or may not need one for jobs. With this in mind, I seriously hesitated, but the urge to be loyal to my friend eventually won over, and I picked up the keys. I then left this side of the pier after glancing at the warehouse surrounded by the crowd.

Mr. Larch's house was close to the forest entry, where the cobbled street led out and eventually connected with Jublife City. It was on the opposite side of town from my house, which I enjoyed. The house is a two-story building with the same blue and white coloring as every other house that was here had. I found Gale at its door, checking his pockets.

"Oh! Nice of you to bring them." He said once he spotted me, and took his keys back.

"Yeah, yeah." I mumbled. "So what's this weird data, anyways? What's it about?"

"Who knows?" Jerry sighed. "Larch's got so many machines and sensors, no one ever knows where exactly the data's coming from or what it is on first glance. Plus, he never tells us over the phone."

"Seems very inconvenient." I drone. "What do you even do here, Gale?"

"Haven't you heard? I'm very smart." He smiles, and then opens the door, and we all head inside, me with a little hesitation.

"He helps look over data, write it down, categorize it, that sort of a thing." Jerry said to help.

"Forgive my ignorance," I say after looking around the room at all the flashing lights that turn on at the flick of a switch, "but what does Larch do?"

"He's kind of a Professor. Like Rowan or Oak from Kanto." Gale said, putting his keys on a work table and starting to type away at a keyboard.

"He does research on Pokémon, their evolutions, how they evolve, and just the energy that they give off in general. He always wondered how a breeding farm helped grow happy Pokémon, as opposed to trainers. Larch's always supposed it was a matter of closeness, but research might indicate a different answer." Jerry elaborated.

"Larch's become a friend of Rowan's after a while." Gale spoke up again, but this time seemed to have found what he was looking for.

Jerry and I turn and look at the computer, crowding around with him. I don't understand a single symbol on the screen, but Gale and Jerry seem to be extremely interested. It must have been informative or controversial, because Gale and Jerry began mumbling things about it.

"Quite interesting, isn't it?" A new voice says, startling me.

I turn with Jerry and Gale to see Mr. Larch, a man with partially graying hair. He does indeed look like a professor, with a white lab coat worn loosely over his normal attire. His face is kind but slightly slack, like he stares at a computer screen too much to properly exercise his muscles.

"Those are the readings off that new machine the people at the warehouse have been advertising. I'm quite sure of it. Look at those lines! I mean, they're so similar to things I've seen before while researching Pokémon!"

Larch went babbling about how one line resembled another, although I only recognized similar slopes or lengths. None of it meant anything to me, so I began to lose interest. Gale, however, quickly changed the subject. It seemed he was accustomed to Mr. Larch's rants.

"Yes, this is extremely interesting, and I want to go over it, but Mr. Larch, don't you have something for Sondra?"

I turn to look at Gale, my expression hopefully both dangerous and surprised. Maybe he not only planned dropping the keys, but told Larch to have a Pokémon ready. How dare he go behind my back?

"Oh, yes, yes!" Exclaims Mr. Larch. Somehow reminding me of a senile old man, he begins to run about the room, searching for something.

"Gale." I mutter, exasperated.

"Now, don't get angry." He says bracingly, smiling.

"You know you're handing me a weapon to beat you with."

"Rather like having a pillow fight, I'd imagine."

Ok, my temper was about to snap. Not only did he set me up to do exactly what I didn't want to do, but now he was making fun of me. It was becoming a tad bit difficult not to hit somebody.

"Here it is!" Larch shouted, holding up a pokeball with one hand and supporting a stack of papers and folders with another.

The next moment, the stack of papers and folders falls on him, and the pokeball hits the ground, eventually rolling to my foot. Gale and Jerry, of course, rush over to free the man from his fluttery prison, which is not easily accomplished. I pick up the pokeball.

"That there is the last piece of your father's breeding farm I have left." Larch said from under the paper, as if nothing had happened. "This place isn't really suited to a breeding farm, so that's the last one. Plus, I don't really have the money to support a lot of Pokémon anymore."

"Yeah, you keep spending it on shiny new equipment." Jerry panted while heaving up a large amount of paper back into a pile.

"_Important_ equipment." Larch stressed.

"So open it! Don't you want to see who your new friend is?" Gale smiles.

"Careful, mister. I know full well you planned this out." I raise a critical brow.

"Took you long enough to get it." He says, folding his arms over his chest.

I eye the pokeball again, feeling as if I really might not want to even endeavor into this. For some reason, it almost felt like a fated moment. Like doing this would change everything. Hell, it was Pokémon, right? It was a little more significant than just having a plant or something in your life. In the end, though, I pushed the button in the middle and turned it so that the light spilled out in front of me.

I wasn't expecting something big or powerful-looking. Around this area were a lot of water-type Pokémon, so something like that popped up in my head. But what the shock of light turned into was a small little fluff ball. It was an Eevee, with mainly brown fur covering its body. A cream, extremely fluffy collar of fur and a cream-tipped tail were the only real differences in color. The small creature sat down good-naturedly and looked up and around it.

"Vee!" It proclaimed, to a smile from Gale.

Gale looked at me, as did everyone else. I hadn't touched Pokémon since I was four, when I seemed to have lost a liking for them. Gale in particular seemed to wonder how I was going to react to this Eevee.

I get down on my knee in front of it, so I'm not exercising how well my spine can stretch out just so I can look at it. We regard each other for a moment, and one of its ears tilts to the side, making it look lop-sided. I resist the urge to smile.

"Hello." I decided to say. "My name is Sondra. You're supposed to be my first, new Pokémon."

"Vee…" the fluffy Pokémon nodded its head.

"Are you alright with being my partner?" I ask, and then I decide to extend my hand.

The Eevee hesitated, and then sniffed my hand. Then both ears went up, and it licked my fingers once, followed by a quick 'vee!', which I understood to be either 'yes' or 'I'll try.' This was all I could ask for, either way. I smiled a bit now, hesitantly trying to settle with the idea that I now had a Pokémon.

* * *

**Shieb:** Welcome to PokeSync, a name that will make much more sense in the next chapter. I will be finishing other projects, but at the moment there are people who have volunteered to offer up their own characters for this fic, and so it seems a more pressing thing to take care of. Said volunteers won't show up for a few chapters, and will be mentioned and acclaimed when they do show up. :) If you'd like to offer a character up to this, message me and I'll give you the application.

Sondra's the kind of gal to act tough. Let's see what happens when we pair her with a cute, adorable little fluff ball! 8D


	2. Chapter 2

It was odd having a Pokémon. I asked the little brown fluff ball if he wanted to go back into the pokeball, and his response was to jump on me. So here I was, the girl who never wanted Pokémon, with an Eevee in her arms. After thanking Mr. Larch for his time and patience and casting a playful glare at Gale, the fluff and I began walking through the streets of Canalave City.

Ok, in truth, I had never even been much of a people person. But if a person comes up to me, I can at least make conversation. There was nothing about Pokémon that I understood, except what I'd heard little children shout in the streets. I couldn't have a conversation with the Eevee. If it were a child, I might introduce him to the water-based city, the boats, or the water right in the center that we had to cross a bridge to get over. But it was a Pokémon. What could I do?

Walking through town suddenly introduced to me the stark contrast between me with a Pokémon and who I had been before. It didn't really bug me when I saw a couple people glance out their windows. However, as I walked by a group of kids who had just gotten their own Pokémon, their conversation stopped altogether. It was apparent that I was going to shock the entire city just by having a fluff ball in my arms.

"Wow!" One of the boys exclaimed before the others could recover, and all three of them rushed over to me, surrounding me in an instant.

"What Pokémon is that?" Asked a second one.

"It's… an Eevee."

"Vee!" The Eevee said, as if to confirm this fact.

"Really? I've never heard of one."

"Well, I have." Said the third boy. "They're really rare and an Eevee can evolve into seven different things!"

"Seven?" The other two boys chorused.

I looked at the Eevee in surprise, and it smiled up at me, its ear tickling my chin as it turned its head. This little thing could evolve into seven other forms? Was that even possible? I thought Pokémon were limited to two possibilities, at the max!

"So what's going on?" The first one said, stepping close to pet Eevee's head. "Are you just babysitting it?"

"How hard did you fight before you gave in?" snickered the third.

"I resisted for five years, but now this Eevee is mine." I mumbled, defeat coloring my voice.

The three boys stared.

"So… You're a trainer now?"

"I guess."

"Yeah, right." Said the second boy, crossing his arms in disbelief. I held up the pokeball as if it was proof. It seemed to be, because the boys all gaped.

'_What idiots.'_ I couldn't help but think.

"Alright then!" Declared the third boy, the brainiac. "Battle with me!"

He jogged a few feet away and then turned to face me. The boy took out a pokeball and, with a push of a button, released his Pokémon. The stream of light formed into a Staryu, which spun as if to accentuate its energy.

"Actually, I was going somewhere."

"What, you afraid?" The first boy taunted, but I felt no inclination to take the bait.

"Listen up." The second boy said commandingly. I raised an eyebrow at him. What was this squirt doing ordering me around? "You've turned your back on Pokémon for almost all of your life! You don't deserve to have something so rare all of a sudden! So you've got to prove your worth!"

I was giving the kid a dangerous look, and he was just about to back away when Eevee jumped from my arms. I looked down in surprise as the fluff ball landed easily and swished its tail, looking seriously at the Staryu across from us. He looked back at me.

"Vee!" he said commandingly.

I frowned. I didn't like being commanded on a good day, but after I had finally been beaten in my life-long quest to stay as far away from Pokémon as possible, I was even less willing to take orders from the very fluff ball I was avoiding. But something in Eevee's eyes caught my attention. It wasn't necessarily the sense of an order, but a request. I could deal with a request. Besides, this might be a good way to test whether or not the fluff ball and I were compatible partners.

"Alright. We battle." I announced.

After a short celebration on the kid's side, Eevee and Staryu ran to appropriate positions, facing off against each other. The first boy who had talked stood on one side of the area, holding up his hand as if to hold us off. When his hand fell, we would begin. The other one stood on the other side, crouched on one knee and watching carefully to make sure the fight was fair. The boy across from me tensed as if he was about to battle while I leaned on one leg and stuck a hand in my pocket. Our Pokémon seemed to mimic our mood. Staryu stood at attention while Eevee sat down, fluffy tail swaying, and cleaned himself by licking his paw and dragging it about his face.

"Ready?" the first boy shouted, and Eevee got up. "Go!"

As the boy's hand fell, the one across from me was already shouting an order.

"Staryu! Tackle!"

I was surprised that little Staryu could move so quickly, and it bashed into my Eevee. Eevee gave a cry, but stood strong. The boy wasn't done yet. Though he seemed like the book boy, his tactics were very aggressive.

"Again!" The boy shouted.

Of course, I was ready this time. I shouted for the fluff ball to dodge, and it leapt to the side just in time to avoid the blow.

"Good going." I muttered under my breath, so it might not hear me and start feeling proud.

"Gah!" was my opponent's reaction.

Though I had plenty of time, I delayed attacking. Staryu was right next to the water that ran through Canalave, and I was certain that dropping Eevee into the water, if he missed, would not improve our chances. The boy, unsurprisingly, started again with another tackle. Eevee dodged again, but then I shouted the first thing that came to my mind: "Tackle 'em."

Eevee swept to the side with his dodge, and then immediately pushed forward, turning sideways as Staryu tried to slow down and recover from his own attack. The fluff ball's shoulder slammed into the Staryu, and the star-shaped Pokémon was sprawled on the floor. I ordered Eevee to move out from between Staryu and the water, which he did quickly. However, my opponent seemed to be angry.

"Harden!" he ordered quickly, worried about me landing another hit. "And then use Water Gun!"

"Move, Eevee! And keep moving."

The brown ball of fur ran about, jumping now and again to avoid the jets of water that were coming at him. Staryu seemed content to do as his master bid, unleashing spray after spray. I could see Eevee was getting tired, but I was having a hard time drawing on past knowledge. Unfortunately, I wasn't much help. Then an idea came to mind, and I let a small smirk show.

"Whip your tail around, Eevee! Mess with 'em. Taunt Staryu with it."

Eevee didn't seem to get it, but through a few trial and errors, understood what I was telling it. It used the move Tail Whip, swinging its tail around to seem endearing, while also causing Staryu to become flustered by coming close, tickling Staryu with the tail, and leaping away again. Staryu actually became confused, and when it stopped listening to its master, Eevee let out a barrage of Tackles to finish off the job.

I was feeling rather accomplished. This was my first battle, and I had won, despite having no real knowledge on such a feat. While my opponent's friends gathered around him and his Pokémon in pity, Eevee trotted over to me, happy but tired. I couldn't help but reach out and pet its head in congratulations, smiling. Feeling successful and holding up long enough to get praise, the Eevee promptly collapsed with a playful "Vee." It was amusing, and I laughed, but then I picked Eevee up, forgetting I could just use the pokeball. I thanked the boy for a good battle, and then turned to go home. Eevee needed rest. Making money could wait.

Mother wasn't home when I got there, which was a relief. I didn't think I could stand going through her congratulations if she knew about this. Or maybe she'd just kick me right back out the door and tell me to go adventuring already.

I introduced Eevee to my room and house, pointing out various areas. Didn't I just say something about not being able to talk to Eevee not too long ago? Oh well. I set him down in my room and hopped on my bed, telling him he could sleep wherever he wanted. He jumped on the bed as well and curled up next to me.

We were woken up by a knock on my bedroom door. I turned and lifted up my head while Eevee put his front paws on my shoulder so that he could see. The door opened when I gave them permission, and Gale stuck his head inside. At first, he looked worried, but then he smiled when he saw Eevee and I together.

"Oh, look, you've already bonded."

"What do you want?" I said a tad bit icily.

"I thought you were going to try out that machine."

"Oh… right."

In all honesty, it had slipped my mind for a while. I was a person who was so angled towards taking care of everything when I could that, even as I woke up from a nap, my main concern was how I was supposed to take care of Eevee. For some reason, a job for Mother and I had just disappeared for a while.

"How you feeling? Better?" I turned to Eevee and asked it. It gave me an enthusiastic 'Vee!', so I nodded my head before getting up.

"Was it sick?" Gale asked as Eevee and I followed him down the stairs.

"No. We had a battle, though."

"Really? I thought I heard something about it, but I didn't believe it was you."

"Neither will anyone else, I'm sure." I mumbled.

When the door to the house opened and Eevee and I were ushered outside, I took a moment to stretch. Eevee watched me extend my arms to their fullest and arch my back, yawning all the while. It felt odd, being watched by such a fuzz ball. The feeling honestly reminded me of being examined by a child.

"How old is he, do you know?" I asked Gale.

"Pretty young. Hasn't really had anyone to bond with, since Larch is more of a computer's man. Larch used to take care of cataloging the farm, if you remember."

"Yeah, I remember."

Gale and I both watched as Eevee stood on its two back feet. It raised its paws hesitantly, trying not to fall, and then tried to stretch its front legs. Eevee failed miserably, but my chuckle was short. Confused, he tried to stretch again from the ground, and found it much more satisfactory. He stretched his legs, twitched his tail, and rolled around a bit on the ground.

"Alright, that's enough." I ordered. "Let's go."

"They say they're almost done with their time here, so I figured I'd make sure you weren't going to bail." Gale teased me.

"I was just having a nap." I protested, pushing his shoulder.

"Alright, alright. Now, go!"

"Fine, geez! Where are you going?"

"Back to work. Larch's so excited about the readings he got off that machine in the warehouse. You'll come tell us all about it, right?"

"Maybe. I'd fancy another nap, personally."

"Yeah, looks like Eevee would, too." Gale said, watching Eevee edge along the building, exploring nervously out of boredom. "You really let him get beat up, didn't you?"

I didn't bother answering. Gale had a habit of making fun of everything I did. In this case, it was understandable. The Eevee and I didn't exactly seem like a miracle team, and I had failed to react when the fluff ball was first hit.

"Alright, let's go." I raised my voice so it would carry to Eevee. His ears stuck straight up, and then he bound to my side, making sure to stay near me as I walked over to the warehouses. It certainly seemed like this Pokémon hadn't ever been anywhere but inside that pokeball. I wondered if he enjoyed walking around like this. His eyes were certainly big enough. Or maybe that was just a quality of the breed.

Eevee trotted freely about, sniffing and examining anything that he found interesting. I kept a close eye on him. The group I had seen at the warehouse suddenly made me nervous, so I didn't let him walk behind me for long. Suddenly, shadows in dark alleys between the warehouses made me nervous, and as we approached I called the Eevee to my arms.

Fluff ball held to my chest, I approached the boys at the warehouse, who were looking disappointed. I had to push through the crowd to make it to the inner edge, but enough grumbling and shoving later, I obtained that goal. Now it was time to see what all the fuss was about.

"Hold up. You got one more guinea pig." I called.

The warehouse guys turned to look at me. They seemed unhappy. The entire day had, no doubt, reaped them no rewards. Whatever was in there had, so far, proven to be a waste of time and money.

"Sorry, kid, but we're done." Said one man irritably.

"No, wait!" called out a woman.

As I watched, the woman ran over to the irritable one and whispered to him. It made me nervous when they pointed at me, and I got the feeling they were pointing at the little ball of fluff in my arms. Was an Eevee really that rare?

"Alright. But you're the last one!"

My hesitation would prove to be in favor of my better judgment. But I ignored it and walked forward, feeling as if I was being invited into the lion's den. Eevee buried his face in my arms and his furry collar.

After being escorted into the warehouse, it closed, making me even more nervous. But instead of providing an ambush, the smiling people showed me to a machine that was in the middle of the room, all bathed in light like it was holy or something. It was a strange machine, consisting of two giant canisters that were connected through a series of thick wires and boxes.

"We'll tell you what you have to do." Said a man standing next to a controls console. The man at the controls was tapping away furiously and pressing all kinds of buttons.

"This machine," started the woman who spoke earlier, " will allow you to share in your Pokémon's power. I promise it's entirely risk-free. Nothing will happen to you or your precious Eevee."

_'If it's risk free,'_ I wondered as I noticed her eyes lingering for too long on my Eevee, _'then why are you testing it in a cold storage warehouse in Canalave?'_

"Now, how it works is like this: you stand in that one, your Pokémon stands in that one, and the machine should work."

"Should?" I said a bit coldly.

"Well, no one else has been able to do it. There's been no real problems. It's just that, when the doors open again, there was no change."

I sighed. There was no way I was going to be able to do anything about an obviously broken machine. Why had they let me in here in the first place? I only got paid if I could successfully use the machine, and since it didn't work, I was wasting my time. Not only that, but when I went home to report failure, my mom would notice the Eevee and send me on my way to adventure. I was so screwed. But there was no use in going backwards, now was there?

"Eevee. We haven't known each other for long, but we need to do this. Do you understand?"

Those big, brown eyes turned up to me, gazing curiously at me. I looked down at it, hoping my eyes would show how serious and desperate about this I was. Just maybe, maybe, this could work.

"I need to help my mother. So we need to do this."

There was a moment of silence between us. And then the fluff ball was wiggling in my arms. I let it go, and it landed with the small pats of its paws on the ground. Bounding, he made his way into one of the canisters and sat down in it.

"Wow!" Said the woman admiringly.

"A smart little fluff ball, aren't you?" I said snidely, raising a brow. All I got was a determined 'Vee!' in response. "Right then, let's do this."

I walked into the giant canister, all calm and determination. As if I didn't have any doubts. What a ruse, but there you go. I didn't trust these people at all- there was just something about them. But still, if a fluff ball that knew nothing about me could walk into a defunct machine for me, so could I.

The doors hissed shut, and the lights went on full blast. I closed my eyes compulsively and growled under my breath. Oh well. Quit being picky. Just deal with it, and things should be over soon.

The air in this thing is cold, and it starts circulating, which doesn't make it any better. Eventually, some force takes a hold of me and lifts me up. I try to balance myself out. Without my feet on the ground, I can't do too much, so I eventually have to surrender myself to the force that's holding me up in the air. Then a magnetic pull draws my hands to two handles on the sides, and I find I can't let go. The whirring of the machine is almost to the point where it has drowned out everything when I hear something quite frightening.

"Uh, boss. They're in the wrong canisters!"

That's when the electricity hits me. I can't help it- I shout out in fright. I wasn't expecting it, and when it hits again, I hold my tongue, but react by jerking around. Then it hits again, and this time it's using a path through my legs and out my arms as a conduit. The current intuitively fits the path of my body, and my muscles tense up while I try to master my fear of this frightening ordeal.

It doesn't take long for my body to feel strange. So thoroughly shocked by the electricity, I can't feel anything right, and while some parts of me are entirely numb, others feel like they've been distorted. It's almost as if my ears are touching the walls, and when I grit my teeth, I accidentally bite into my gums.

For a split second, I wonder if Eevee is okay. And for some reason, I know that he is just like me- scared, but bearing it. I feel proud of him, though I'm not sure why. He, in turn, feels gratitude towards me, but wished he could take a very long nap after this.

Finally, at long last, the machine's whirs slow down, and I am released from its tenacious grip. My hands seem glued to the handles, but my cramping legs collapse from under me, so I hang with my arms raised as if I had been shackled. I didn't remember the handles being so high. They were almost lifting me off the ground at this point, so I try to get up as some sense of the world returns to me.

A few of the lights dim, and the door opens. Outside, there's a flashing green and blue light amidst a bunch of smoke. There's a lot of shouting, and while one person runs over to the other canister, the woman runs over to me. Good. Maybe she can get my hands off the bars.

"Are ok?" And then she gasps and backs up. No, come over here and help me, dang it! "Oh my goodness!"

I guess I'll have to pry my own hands from the handles. I do so with the aggravation I would imagine a very, very old person to have. I have to flex them so that feeling will return to them, and then push myself onto my feet.

"What, what's the matter?" Several other people exclaim, and run over to see. Their appearance is quickly followed by gasps and exclamations that come faster as the smoke clears. I can see Eevee in one of the men's arms. He's staring like a fool, just like the rest of them.

I want Eevee back. He's ok with that, and so he wiggles out from the man's arms and runs over to me. But there's something else wrong. When was Eevee this big? Before, he couldn't reach my knee. But now he was almost to my hip.

"What happened to you?" I wondered aloud.

The feeling I get back is something like, _'What do you mean _me_? You're the one who changed!'_

* * *

**Shieb:** Alright, so Sondra gets her first battle, finally gets to the machine and... Oh my, what's happened? You'll have to figure out in the next chapter, if you haven't already. :P Either way, it's sure to be a game-changer._  
_

On another note, I'd like people to let me know when there are dire problems in my writing- I'm always looking to better myself. You'll notice that the tenses will change now and again- from present to past- but the document is so big, I didn't bother fixing it. If it really bothers you, I will stick to one or the other in future chapters. Otherwise, let me know what else you like or dislike. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Wait... This wasn't right. I was shorter. My ear twitched, and the hairs inside tickled. That wasn't right, either. And how the hell did I know what Eevee was thinking? I got the feeling this was just the top of the iceberg, but still. I looked at my hands. My skin was a hell of a lot darker. My ear twitched again. Finally, I looked up to the people in front of me.

"What the hell... just happened?" I said, trying to sound testy, but just managing to sound dazed.

There was a moment of utter silence. And then the group exploded into exclamations. It was like a party had just been announced without anyone telling me it was in this place, on this day, at this time. People started dancing around, and one very fast person found a mirror. It was almost twice my height, and for a good reason. Everyone else was painfully taller than me because I was almost the size I should have been when I was 7 or so.

That wasn't the only thing that changed. There were large, diamond-shaped ears poking out from my hair, which had become extremely fluffy. It looked like I was wearing a fur scarf, and my feet were... Oh God, they were paws!

"Here are your shoes." Someone said kindly.

They had retrieved my shoes from the canister, and now they set them next to me. I put one paw hesitantly in the shoes. It didn't even fill the heel entirely.

This was a nightmare. I was cute and fluffy, looking about 7 years old again, my own Pokémon was almost as tall as me, and everybody here was so happy about it. My life was doomed. If Gale found out about this, I would never hear the end of it. Oh, who was I kidding? There was no way he wouldn't find out about it.

Eevee felt the fear of ridicule from me and shifted nervously. He didn't understand why being made fun of was too bad. He thought my pride was too big. I almost boxed him in the head.

Trying to muster what remained of my dignity, I put my hands on my hips and glared at the adults above me.

"Hey! You got what you were looking for, so put me back!"

"Oh, but why would you want to go back?" One of the women squealed. "You're so adorable!"

"Call me adorable one more time." I said in as low and threatening a voice I could. No one called me adorable again.

After what was left of their celebration was over, the workers went back to their stations- most just observing, I noticed. I was ushered into what was supposed to be the appropriate canister, and Eevee sat in the other one. Was it just me, or was his chest all puffed out in pride? Maybe it was just the fluffy collar.

The whirring became deafening in no time. I wasn't lifted up this time, but my hands were again drawn to the handles. I could feel myself changing back, my large, intuitive ears shrinking back to their appropriate size and shape. A fluffy tail I had noticed earlier shrank and became nothing. As things calmed down, I realized that my awareness of Eevee had faded as well. Truth be told, I wasn't sure if I was happy or not. It had sure been strange. What was this machine?

As the workers let me out, each one of them with a big grin on their face, the woman from before handed me the cash that had been promised. She gave a furtive glance towards Eevee, who eluded being picked up again and bound towards me. Then the woman smiled like the rest of them, giggling and giddy.

"You're the only one who worked. We're gonna run some more tests to see if we can perfect it. Who knew that we had been using the wrong pods so far? Anyways, if we think we'll need your help again, we'll call, ok?"

"Yeah, ok." Said, flexing my hands. I was back to normal.

"Thanks for your help, really," an older man started babbling as I was ushered out. The cool breezes of Canalave met with our faces, and I found muscles I hadn't remembered tensing being released.

"What's going on here?" Said a demanding voice suddenly.

I looked to see what seemed to be a group of spacemen. Their suits were strange and hardly space worthy, but I couldn't describe them any other way. And what was up with their hair? Were they wearing wigs?

"What's in there?" Shouted one of the spacemen.

"Nothing." Said a worker obstinately.

"I hear it has something important to do with Pokémon research." returned another, just as stubborn.

"Well, it doesn't." Protested a woman.

"Just in case, in the name of Team Galactic, we will claim whatever is in there for the good of all!"

"You don't want it, though." I found myself saying.

"Huh? And why's that?" Said the spaceman with annoyance.

"Because it doesn't work. Everyone here has gone in and out without any sort of success. It'd be pointless to waste the energy."

"Eh? So it doesn't even work?" The man said faintly. He looked around the crowd and saw everyone agreeing with me.

"Then what was with the light show!" Another person protested.

"They put me in the wrong pod..." I said, mustering all my annoyance in that sentence.

There was a sort of quiet over the crowd. Then, with a huff, the spacemen all turned and left, claiming they had never been interested, anyway. Before they left, however, the more dynamic one stopped and turned to look at me. His eyes lit upon my Eevee.

"Actually, I think there's still something we should take. That Eevee needs a better owner," he smirked.

I glared and held Eevee closer. As the Galactic goons approached, however, I was surprised. The workers from the warehouse surrounded me, and every one of them held out a pokeball threateningly. The spacemen hesitated. There was no way three of them were going to be able to go up against a bunch of serious-looking workers. So, again, they were forced to regretfully retreat.

"Thanks," I said after those blue heads had vanished.

"No problem," A man said.

"You protected us, so we protect you," said another.

"Alright, folks! Show's over! Nothing's happening here!" Shouted someone to my right, making shooing motions with his hands.

I left as the crowd began dispersing, looking at me and whispering curiously. Something on the outside had apparently changed. I wondered what it was, but my thoughts were instead drawn to the workers and that strange machine.

What had I become? Part Pokémon? That was just weird, and then there was the intense connection between Eevee and I. I'd have to think it over for tonight. But before that, I was going home. That machine really took it out of Eevee and I. As I walked, the warm little ball of fur in my arms was slowly nodding off. I wondered if he had a lazy personality.

Approaching my house, I looked up to see both my mother and Jerry. Jerry adjusts the glasses on his face excitedly as he sees me, and then he's suddenly running towards me. My mother gets on her tiptoes as if to better see the Eevee in my arms. I'm thinking about napping at Gale's house when Jerry reaches me, and instead of stopping, loops one of his arms through mine and continues running. Trying to run backwards, I begin to shout cut-off profanities.

"Larch is so excited, he can barely stand it. When Gale came back, he was just telling us how he had to get you out of bed before the group packed up when the readings went off the chart!" Jerry started babbling excitedly. " I mean, the readings off that thing were incredible! It was nothing compared to all the other times, where the energy just cut off in the middle. We want to know everything, and-"

"Would you let me walk forward!" I exploded, to a worried look from Eevee.

"Oh, sorry," Jerry said as he let me go and flattened his hair nervously.

I held the Eevee with one arm while stretching the one Jerry had damn near yanked out of my shoulder. That boy looked like a walking twig, but when he had momentum, he could really hurt someone. Frowning at him, I couldn't help but sigh. Eevee jumped out of my arms as Jerry readjusted his glasses.

"So, come on." He said finally.

I really felt like just hitting him and leaving or something, but Eevee was already going after him. It's not like I would be staying there for too much longer, though, right? Just a simple explanation of what happened. No, wait, that couldn't work. Nothing about this was simple. And anyways, I got the feeling I wasn't supposed to say anything about it.

We made it to the lab in no time, though, with the little fuzz ball jumping around everywhere. I couldn't help but shake my head at it. What was he so excited about? These were just houses, that was just water. All of the things he stopped to explore were normal.

In the lab, though, I told Eevee to stay close. I didn't trust him to not push a button he wasn't supposed to. This place obviously did not have a self-destruct button, but a scenario involving one played out in my head.

"Mr. Larch, I found Sondra!" Jerry exclaimed as we made it to the back of the lab.

"Sondra? Oh, wonderful!" Larch turned to me, a wide smile on his face that made me want to back up very quickly, lest he look too intensely.

"I heard you finally got into the warehouse." Gale kidded.

"Eevee got us in, I suspect. He's a rare Pokémon, right?"

"Quite." Said Larch smartly. "But that doesn't matter at the moment. Please, tell us everything about what happened. The energy readings I had from before skyrocketed, and-"

"Yeah, I heard the excited version from Jerry on my way here."

"So?" Prompted Larch excitedly.

I sigh and begin from when Gale woke me up, mainly to call him annoying. Then I go to how the machine was just about to be packed away, and how I suspected Eevee was my ticket in. Then, as I start on the machine, I find myself hesitating. I had denied the machine's functionability in front of a crowd of people before. Was I endangering the project now by verifying how well it worked? No, I was being silly. I was among friends here. There was no danger anymore.

So I continued explaining the machine, and how Eevee and I were put in separate pods. The transformation was something I had to verify and go over several times. There was a lot of doubt in their faces. Gale took the information with a little look of puzzlement, but otherwise believed me quicker than the other two. He knew I was no liar. Once Larch began believing me, he was pacing about the lab, grabbing one sheet of paper or another, comparing data he was pulling up on the computer as I finished my story.

"Sounds like something out of a fantasy book." Jerry said finally, a concerned look on his face.

"I'm not crazy, and I'm not lying," I said flatly.

"I'll back her up on that. It would explain the surge of energy we saw on the computers."

"But that's just not possible!" Jerry argued. "Are you sure this isn't just a cover story she was told to say, instead of the real thing?"

"I hesitated once to consider whether to gift you with the truth," I said a bit touchily. "I decided to be honest. Gale could tell if I was lying."

"I suppose he does know you well enough..." Jerry mumbled.

"Well, she did skip over some parts. But no outright lying." Gale confirmed.

I stared at the ground for a moment or two. I had neglected to tell them about my height difference and how young I had looked when I had... changed. The thought compelled me to find Eevee, who had disappeared during my long explanation. Fuzz Ball was sniffing at some wires. To be safe, I called him over. Happily, he bound over to me and leaped into my lap, as I had found a chair while I was talking earlier.

"He seems to have really bonded with you," Larch commented from across the room. He was examining the Eevee and I with a very intense gaze that I wasn't used to seeing on him.

"That does seem true," Jerry mumbled thoughtfully.

"How long has it been since she got the Eevee?" Larch asked to no one specifically, as he turned back to the computer.

"About six hours," Gale answered.

"Extraordinary," Larch said. What about, I wasn't certain; he was staring at the computer while he said it.

"The affection is completely one-sided," I said, simultaneously petting Eevee and looking moodily at a stack of papers.

"Right," Gale replied without belief. "Well, your Eevee doesn't seem to think so. You know, Pokémon are very attuned to things like feelings and intents. I'd say your words and your feelings don't match up."

"Shut up." I mumbled, looking down at the Eevee, who was leaning into me while I scratched behind its ears.

If going to the lab and being examined and observed like an experiment wasn't awkward enough, coming back home was torture. My mother, of course, now knew I had a Pokémon. She was waiting eagerly in the living room for me to come back home. And come home I did, though with much personal debate.

As I entered my house, Eevee in my arms, I heard my mother get up from the couch even before I saw her. Trying to delay the inevitable, I turned away to close the door properly. But being inside seemed to pique the Eevee's curiosity again. I guess it hadn't really been allowed to explore this place, so it wiggled its way out of my arms.

"Oh, it's so adorable!" My mother exclaimed in the most girly fashion I had ever heard her exclaim anything. "This is your Pokémon?"

"Yes, mother, that is my Pokémon," I sighed.

"Oh, don't sound so somber. You should be happy to finally have a Pokémon. And such a cute one, too."

"He's a barrel of energy, too. If he destroys your house, it's your fault for probably conspiring with Gale to make me get a Pokémon."

"Conspire? What do you mean?"

"Oh, you know, you're so eager to get me out the door with Gale, and then he happens to drop his keys, which I have to return to him when he's at the door of one of the last people who took care of Dad's old ranch."

"Oh my. That sounds very well thought-out. I don't think I could think that far ahead. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't thinking about that at all when I was ushering you out the door."

"What were you thinking of?" I asked, raising a brow suspiciously.

"Oh, I'll tell you when you're older."

"Mom!" I exclaimed.

"What's with all the fuss?" She asked me in a kidding voice. "Now, come here, little one."

Eevee was picked up a little awkwardly by my mom, squirming now and then as if to catch his balance. He gazed a little wonderingly at my mother, and she smiled at him. I found some part of me hoping Eevee wouldn't like my mother. Then another part reasoned that if Eevee liked Mom, then maybe he would have to stay here. Therefore, mother could not force me on a very long journey across Sinnoh, as most children were expected to do.

"You're not only cute, you're intelligent, aren't you?" Mother said sweetly. "I can see it in your eyes. Do you know I'm her mother? Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Eevee."

Mother gave a big grin. As if it were some kind of permission, Eevee smiled as well. He looked very happy, and gave an enthusiastic "Vee!" Then Mom let him down and allowed him to wander about, although he now seemed a little bit more playful.

"Is it just me, or do you tend to make things worse when somebody warns you about a potential problem?" I said, standing next to her and watching Eevee run about the house with frenzied curiosity.

"There's nothing wrong with giving somebody a little encouragement," Mother said reasonably, returning to the couch.

"So you were in on it with Gale!"

"I never said anything like that," she laughed.

"I will catch you red-handed one of these days."

"Oh, I have no doubt about that. In the meantime, what are you going to do with that Eevee?" Mother asked.

"Hm? Well, I haven't really thought about it. I guess I'll wait and see if I got the job."

"Job?" Mother said with curiosity, though I could sense a kind of disappointment in her tone.

"Yeah. I got Eevee because it was required for me to enter in some kind of experiment. Well, mine was the only one that worked, so they said they might call back if they have more work for me."

"And if they don't?"

I shrugged.

"I'll figure that out then. In the meantime, how are we going to feed him?"

"I'll take you shopping tomorrow, show you what's what in the Pokémon franchise."

"Are you trying to set me up again?"

"It can't be helped," she sighed dramatically. "This is your choice. Now you're going to have to take care of him."

I gave a flimsy glare as my mother smiled playfully at me. She was always looking out for me, I would give her that. But need I remind anyone that I didn't ask for a Pokémon? I believe I mentioned earlier that I wanted nothing to do with them, yet here was this little brown and cream-colored fluff ball at my leg, pawing at my knee so it could get up. With a sigh, I obliged, and leaned down to pick him up before proceeding over to the couch. There was nothing to be done. Mom was right. I made my choice, and now I was going to have to take responsibility for it.

"So does he have a name?" Mom asked after a couple of seconds of TV watching.

"No."

"Are you going to give him one?"

"I think Fluff Ball should suffice."

"Fluff Ball?" She gave me a look. "That's entirely like you."

"Don't look so disappointed!" I grinned, pushing her playfully.

"Can you blame me? It's my daughter's first Pokémon. I was hoping there would be bonding going on, or something! As it is, you look almost disdainful just petting Eevee."

"Do not," I said flatly.

"Do to!" She laughed, pushing me back. "You have a ways to go as a trainer."

"I am not a trainer. I just happen to have a Pokémon."

There were a couple of moments of silence, so I turned to look at my mother. She had a smile and a devious twinkle in her eyes. Suspicion rushed over me like a tidal wave, and my expression reflected my thoughts.

"Mom..." I said almost in warning.

"Yes, sweetie?" She said all too sweetly.

"What are you planning?"

"Nothing, dear."

"Whatever," I said after a moment. "I'll find out eventually, anyways. I'm going upstairs to take a nap."

"Good girl." Mother said playfully.

Over the course of the next week, I again suspected that Eevee had a very lazy nature. He napped at least twice a day, oftentimes on my lap or in my bed. I tried taking walks on my own to clear my head, but when I came back, I was tackled by a small ball of fur. Mother seemed to enjoy this, as I always saw her smiling when I came back home. Very soon, I gave up on the idea of ever having alone time again, since Eevee seemed to go through some kind of withdrawal symptoms, and I would sometimes find something broken when I came back home. Out of the money I made by successfully using the machine, half of it was spent within the second day because of all the stuff I had to replace and buy for Eevee.

Mother did take me shopping the day after I got Eevee. Eevee came as well, of course, and I had a real time of it keeping Eevee from breaking or ripping something while also paying attention to my mother's tips and tricks. She gave me her opinions on foods, toys, beds, treats- everything under the sun, although we didn't buy half of it. A lot of the things she remembered weren't in stores anymore, which made me laugh in spite of myself.

That nice woman also gave me a lesson on being a trainer, although I repeatedly reminded her that I was not going to roam the world and fight everyone I could see. She told me about the different kinds of pokeballs, potions, and all sorts of other things trainers used. It was fascinating, I admit. However, we left the store with less money in our pockets, and I with no more intention to explore the world than when I entered.

All across town, I became known as the girl with the Eevee. The shock was evident in almost every person as I was confronted and asked, with much concern, what had happened. They were surprised to know that the Eevee's previous owner had not died, my mother had not found it cold and hungry under a bush, or that it was not originally meant for someone other than me. Not that this bothered me too much, but it was a little overbearing, how much no one could see me with Pokémon. Heck, I couldn't see me with Pokémon. Sometimes it was still a shock when I woke up next to a brown ball of fluff whose breathing was quiet.

Actually, the time of doing nothing but taking care of Eevee and fending off my mother was kind of nerve-wracking. I wanted those people to contact me. As confused and cautious as I was about the experience with the machine, I was also curious. Would it work again? Could I also do things that Eevee could when I was like that? What was that mental connection between us?

While I pondered that, Mother kept poking and prodding me. She wanted me to go out on a walk with the Eevee, or take it to the park, or go hang out. It was same old mom, but more like she was on hyperdrive. She wanted me to do all these things she normally wanted me to do, but she wanted me to go out longer or more often. I think she was trying to instill a sense of adventure in me somehow.

* * *

**Shieb:** *le gasp* Sondra synchronized with her Pokemon! *hurr hurr* On a more serious note, that's the major different thing in this fic. More will be explained later, but have no fear, I'm not power-playing it. Expect explosions sometime in the next two chapters or so, and remember to review if you like it, or if there's something to be fixed!


	4. Chapter 4

Finally, my mother got a strange piece of mail, which was later handed to me. I was asked to come in for another day's work. They gave me a payment rate and a fuzzy description of what I was supposed to do ('similar happenings to the first time you participated in our experiment') as well as a time and place to go if I was interested. I was warned that I would leave home and be staying away for a while. My mother, being demented, was thrilled at this.

"Oh, honey! You're going out to see the world finally! And with your Eevee, too!"

"Vee!" Exclaimed the fluff ball, eyes wide and excited. I looked at it as if to say 'don't encourage her' and was surprised to see those large ears flatten. Could that connection still be there, but dimmed?

"Oh, don't look so grim, dear!" I was embraced in a hug and then held at arm's length. "It'll be fun! An adventure! And I'm sure these responsible adults will keep you well-fed and comfortable, because if they do anything wrong, I know people who could crush them!"

It was creepy how she said this with a smile and the same chipper voice she used when she was talking about festivals.

"Right…" I backed away from her and reread the letter, making sure I understood everything.

"You are going to do it, right?" The woman said anxiously behind me. I nodded my head 'yes'. "Good! Then I'll pack your bags for you!"

Before I could protest, she was up the stairs and probably searching through my drawers. I was left alone with Eevee, who seemed to be watching me for something. With a sigh, I put down the letter and lifted up the ball of fluff, whose tail twitched in happiness.

"Looks like we're going traveling." I said, petting it and scratching behind the ears. "You don't get any bad feelings about this, do you? Cus I'm kinda nervous."

I only got a lick on my cheek in return.

A couple of days later, I leave for the docks with my pack on my shoulders. Eevee gets in a last hug, as do I. With the day of actually leaving home, and my mother, I find that I'm more nervous about it than I wanted to admit. Now that I thought about it, I had never been separate from my mother before. This would, as she happily put it, be a new experience.

Gale already knew I was leaving. We had spoken the previous day. He seemed excited for it, and both he and my mother followed me to the docks today, smiling like idiots. There was a boat waiting there, and the lady worker from before greeted me and Eevee. As the boat went off, I waved at them. I thought about how I wouldn't see them for a couple of weeks, or maybe a couple of months. If only I had known what I was actually getting into.

I soon found that the boat ride was nothing but a sort of preliminary phase. The boat, being huge, easily held another one of those machines, and Eevee and I were made to go in and out a couple of times. The experiences were the same as before, and I had to stifle my own shouts in order to pay attention and get used to the machine while it was running. In time, I learned to relax while the current took me and changed me into…

Although it was cool interpreting feelings as if they were clear thoughts from Eevee, I still was unhappy about the exact transformation. No matter what, I continued to be small, fluffy, and generally adorable. My only saving grace was that the few technicians that worked with the machine were the only ones that were allowed to be in the same room with me while we were running tests. That is to say, very few people got to see me in this embarrassing state.

The only thing that seemed to be a problem was that Eevee wasn't capable of anything particularly special. That is to say, I could tackle something and throw sand at them just as easily as Eevee could. To try and correct this, the technicians decided to put another Pokémon in the other capsule.

At first, Eevee was very firm about not letting this happen. He bit someone, and struggled to stay away from the machine whenever I was near it. It was clear to me that Eevee believed it was _his_ privilege, and that no one else should participate in this with me. That was something I got very clearly. He couldn't care less if someone else was trying it, but if _I_ was near the machine, he went crazy. I didn't like doing something that upset Eevee without talking with him, but the technicians weren't having it. One of them held Eevee firmly while I was shunted unwillingly to the machine. The doors closed, and I heard the whirring of the machine start up. I wondered if the Shinx in the capsule next to mine was used to this machine. In that moment, I felt as if I was being looked at by the Shinx. And then there was rejection.

Before the spinning of its parts had really started up to the proper level, the machine made an error noise and slowed down to a stop again. The door opened and I walked out, confused. Eevee bound up to me, having apparently worked his way to freedom while I was in the machine. I leaned down to pick him up like he wanted, and was surprised to see a stern glare on his usually cute features.

"Vee!" He lectured.

I wasn't sure entirely what he was saying, but I imagined it to be the effect of 'never do that again!' It wasn't as if I had a clue what to say in return, so I just frowned back after covering up my surprise. Eevee glared further, and then turned to the Shinx that walked daintily by me as it was let out of the machine. The look it gave me was perhaps colder than Eevee's.

"I don't get it." Someone was mumbling next to the controls.

"What happened?" I asked calmly, Eevee still in my arms as I approached.

"You… Shinx… Neither of you merged." The man muttered, readjusting his glasses with sweaty fingers.

"Yeah, I got that part." I said somewhat impatiently. "What was different this time?"

"Right… right… What was different?..."

He started typing fervently at his keyboard, the glare of the screen reflecting off his glasses. From behind me came the main woman in charge, sighing and trying to cover up her annoyance. It occurred to me that something was eating these technicians up. There was something wrong, and I wasn't privy to it.

"What's wrong?" I asked, my tone indicating that I didn't want to be babied. The woman gave me a slightly surprised look, but seemed to think there was no point in hiding.

"If you can't do this with anything other than an Eevee, this project may be a bust."

"Why? I mean, you have me for as long as you need to gather more data. I mean… Maybe certain people have an affinity for certain types, or something."

At my mention for affinities, the man at the computer made a noise and opened another window, doing more calculations. The screen flickered often on his glasses, and it was somewhat distracting in my peripherals. Eevee was unusually still in my arms. He seemed to be fixed on staring at the lady before me.

"Oh, but that's the problem." The lady sighed, looking with what I now recognized as a small bit of disdain at Eevee. "We _don't_ have you for as long as we need you. We're on a time limit. This project has been so long in the making that the people who fund us are about ready to pull out all support. A demonstration needs to be made, or else it'll all be buried… Along with us."

Her tale was kind of sad, a lament that I felt was true. Still, Eevee's tenseness in my arms had me rethinking the situation. What if we were separated again? Would Eevee freak? Would I? I had to admit that while I was in that machine alone, I was really sad that it wouldn't be Eevee who would lend me their strength.

"You'd at least get support if a successful merge happened, right?"

"Perhaps…" The woman sighed. She glanced at the man at the computer, and then motioned for me to walk with her. "But you must understand. I don't really want to separate you from your Pokémon, but a demonstration is always more effective when it's flashy. It'd make more of an impression. We'd get more than just enough to barely get by."

I thought the situation over. I didn't want to deprive people of their jobs. On the other hand, Eevee still felt somewhat violated because of how he was separated from me. Because I was silent for so long, those big brown eyes turned to me, one ear upon his head to the side and the other sticking straight up. He probably wondered what was up.

"Eevee. Can I try this… Just once? They really need it." My voice was soft and apologetic, and I couldn't even meet Eevee's eyes.

There were a couple of moments of silence between us. Then the fluff ball wiggled from my arms, and I allowed him to drop on the floor. He walked a few paces away from me, then looked back and sighed.

"Vee." He said with a tone of reluctance.

I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding as Eevee proceeded to the door of the machine room, which was overheating. The woman looked from me to the Pokémon, and then back, clearly confused. I felt a couple of other eyes upon us as well, and figured the entire room had been hanging on our decision.

"So?"

"It's a yes."

"There's still a problem." A voice from behind me intoned, and I turned sharply to see the computer guy. "You haven't been able to synchronize with any Pokémon but Eevee."

"Yes, there is that…" The woman sighed, frustrated.

"I… may have a theory." I said slowly.

"It had better be a damn good theory." She shook her head, walking with me to the door, where Eevee waited. "We need a breakthrough within the next five hours."

"Why?" I asked. Then I noticed the abnormally dark shadow that had overcome the boat.

There were others gathering at the railing, and Eevee and I curiously approached, Eevee jumping back into my arms to be safe. We looked above, and instead of seeing clouds, we saw what seemed to be a floating island. My mouth was open for an uncomfortably long time as I totally lost my sense of self-awareness, and instead gave into awe. It was huge, somehow hovering there in the sky as if it belonged there.

"This is where we were going?" I breathed.

"Yes. This is where we will perform our demonstration."

There was a long process as a giant net was lowered from the floating island, and divers maneuvered it under the ship, attaching it to another set of ropes on the other side of the boat. The ropes were thicker than me. Everything was so startling to me that I had troubles controlling my gaping mouth. Eevee was no longer alone in open awe, and we both ran around the ship, trying to catch a better view of the floating sky. It was amazing that we were going to be up there in time. We damn near weren't- the ship gave a great lurch as it was pulled out of the water, and we almost slid off the side and into the water.

The lady in charge came to fetch us- we, still tangled against the railing for safety-, telling me to repack everything, since we would be given new rooms once we were on board the island. I did so eagerly, but again found that familiar anxiety beginning to eat up at me. I was the demonstration. That meant there would be people staring right at me, and that made me more than a little bit nervous.

Once the ship shook into its flying dock, I exited my room once more, Eevee sitting awkwardly on top of the bag that was rolling behind me. We were escorted to the walkway, but I paused at the top, seeing who exactly was standing at the bottom, waiting for the scientists and I. They were all dressed in black of one sort or another, and they all bore a giant red R on their fronts. This floating island, no wonder it was so amazing! It was owned by Team Rocket.

Suddenly, I was having issues. I didn't want to get off the boat- in fact, I wished they would lower us back into the water and let us leave. Team Rocket was notorious for being a mean bunch of criminals that took what they wanted for the sake of profit. They were like a human symbol for greed. I didn't like the idea of working for them, and suddenly the idea of demonstrating a technology like this in order for the scientists to be funded… Well, suddenly it was frightening.

Still, I couldn't figure out a way to get off the ship and away from Team Rocket without getting in trouble, so I kept my face neutral and unaffected, and proceeded where I was told to go. The scientists and I were given our own area of the island, to work, study, and rest. We each had our own rooms as well, something that only I was able to take advantage of, and even then it was only for about an hour as the machine was moved, recalibrated, and tested without me.

Eevee curled up on top of my stomach as I tried to get to sleep, but my mind ran feverishly in circles. What was I supposed to do? Eevee was rare, and worth quite a bit of money, so what if we were separated, and they took him? What if the test failed, and as punishment he was taken?

My panicked thoughts were interrupted when a paw suddenly pushed my nose down. I looked down at the leg, crossing my eyes to accomplish the task, and finally looked at Eevee's face. He was glaring. I blinked a couple of times, and wondered if he knew what I was thinking. The more we went in the machine, the more we seemed to understand each other- or at least get a vague idea of what the other one was feeling. Finally, after a couple more minutes, I sat up. We both stared at each other before I decided on something.

"Alright, listen up. We might get separated for the project. I already promised them I would do it once without you. But we need to make sure we meet again. These Rocket people… I don't trust them. If something happens, you and I need to meet again. Do you understand?"

The only response I got was a lick on the cheek, but I suppose it meant something. The idea of being able to communicate with a Pokémon was strange, especially to a person like me. For all I knew, I was going crazy. Or maybe the empathy was one-sided. I couldn't know for certain, and I wasn't going to find out any time soon.

We were called out of our room while staring at each other. A couple more tests needed to be done, and everyone whose lives depended on this were panicking. With the level of agitation so high in the air, I was unsurprised that there was a small argument to the far side of the room we were given to work in.

In only a few moments, I noticed that there was another Pokémon in the room. I did not recognize this Pokémon, and the woman in charge walked me over to it. It was tall, with bird-like features, but it was bipedal and had the coloring of red and yellow. Actually, it looked pretty cool. I was told it was a Blaziken.

"We told them we'd need a volunteer Pokémon for the demonstration, to make a better impression. This is what they gave us. I'd say we were pretty fortunate, but…" She trailed off, glancing at me. I could tell she wondered if I could sync with any Pokémon other than Eevee. "Well, we have little time, and we have to try this out. I really hope your idea works."

I greeted Blaziken and gave him all of my patience and amiability- at least, whatever I had left in this tense situation. I knew that we needed to be on good terms with each other, but Blaziken seemed nervous- not the serious, hardened kind of Pokémon I always imagined under a Rocket member's foot. In response, I tried to work with this, showing Blaziken that he could trust me. When the machine was finally calibrated, we were told to get inside, and yet the Pokémon hesitated. Eevee waited unhappily behind a line of nervous scientists, and the crowd seemed more displeased with Blaziken's unwillingness to be shoved into a tiny capsule than anything else. I decided to go first. Maybe, if he saw that it was alright, he might move forward.

Nervously, he watched me as I entered the machine, turned, and smiled at him. Blaziken's eyes narrowed warily, trying to see if anything strange would happen. I even spoke, telling him that 'see, everything's fine.' Finally, the Pokémon slowly proceeded into the other side of the machine. It hesitated, but got in, and so the experiment proceeded.

The whirring started a new bout of nervousness, and as the machine sped up, I became aware of the familiar sensation. It was as if a part of my skull had opened up to receive another series of thoughts. One could imagine it as having a brain you never knew about, and adding those thoughts to the ones that already existed in your head, but these new thoughts were distinctively alien. They weren't mine, and they wandered in what felt like my personal space without meaning to. It was the machine, blending us together.

Through this, I could feel Blaziken's thoughts and nervousness. What was going on, what was going to happen? I tried to think about what had happened to me before, and the sensations I had gotten from Eevee. These thoughts instead startled Blaziken, and I heard a bang from the capsule next to mine. The whirring slowed down suddenly, and then stopped entirely.

Both doors opened, and I rushed out, seeking to give attention to Blaziken while the residual connection was still there. The Pokémon was spooked, and wouldn't let anyone near it- least of all the scientists. I seemed to be the one who could get the closest, but still, I couldn't even talk to him. He wouldn't focus. His eyes indicated that he was looking for a way out, and it occurred to me that he might be newly caught.

A thought struck me as the scientists tried to block off the exits, panicking and thereby ensuring that Blaziken would not calm down. I rushed towards Eevee, leaning down to pick him up, but he backed up, looking unhappy with me.

"Oh, come on! Now is not the time to be jealous. We need to help him, because if this doesn't go through, we're all in trouble."

Eevee made a reluctant noise, but let himself be picked up, and I walked over to the other Pokémon again, the fluff ball in my arms. As soon as we came close, Blaziken's eyes locked on to us, despite the crowd. He watched us work our way to the front, and I muttered quick instructions to Eevee, who then pushed his way from my arms.

The two Pokémon stood there in the middle of the crowd for a couple of moments, staring at each other. Then they started talking. There was no way to translate their language, but it was apparent they were making some kind of exchange. Eevee started off aggressive, a mistake as I saw it, and it made Blaziken defensive. Something the fluff ball said, however, changed the other Pokémon's expression drastically- to a look of surprise, and then deep thought as Eevee went on talking. Finally, there was what sounded like a question, and then Blaziken nodded after an extended period of silence.

Eevee turned around, his job apparently done. I leaned down to pet him, thanking him. This was all he would allow, however, as he then walked right past me, and sat down where he had observed things before. I got the distinct feeling Eevee was angry with me. Still, Blaziken allowed himself to be approached and examined. The machine was double-checked, and then the scientists asked if we were willing to test it out one more time.

It was when Blaziken and I were about to agree that the double doors opened, and a Rocket member came through, walking fast. He stopped where we would hear him, and instructed us to start packing up and getting ready for the demonstration.

"What? We were told the demonstration would be held in another two hours!" The woman in charge said angrily.

"Don't get smart with me!" The man said with a smile, clearly hoping the woman would disobey him. "They're just my orders, and I'm passing them on from the Boss."

"The Boss?" Someone in the room said faintly. The grunt's smile turned nasty.

"Yeah, Boss Giovanni is here to watch a project of such importance. So I'd make sure that everything was nice and ready if I were you. Good luck."

With a wave, the man turned and left the scientists. After a stunned moment of silence, the woman in charge clapped her hands a few times and shouted orders, making sure to get everyone on their feet. After making sure work was being done, she turned to me.

"This needs to happen, Sondra. I don't know how important you thought it was before, but now I think you'll fully realize. Giovanni is here. If he sees a dud, we're through…" Her words turned quiet and nervous. Her hands were shaking on my shoulders, and I fought to be still in comparison. I don't know what it is, but when people are nervous or scared, I tend to start ignoring my own feelings in favor of them. Doesn't make any sense with a complete stranger like her.

"Yes, I get it." I say back, a little exasperated. "I want to protect something of my own, so don't worry. It's all or nothing."

"Right… Well, then," and she sighs and makes to shake her head, as if this would shake the anxiety from her, "you'll be needing a change of clothes."

"What? What's wrong with the ones I'm wearing?"

I look at myself. I'm wearing a grey T-shirt with a Pokeball symbol on it, a pair of jeans, and converse shoes. Who cares what I look like now? I'm supposed to be blending with another Pokémon in less than two hours, anyways, so it's not like my T-shirt is going to make a lasting impression.

"We have a nice grey tank-top and a more fitting pair of sweat pants waiting for you. You've been wearing those for so long, it's about time for a change. We'll be preoccupied with fixing and moving the machine, so you go ahead and take a shower and relax. You and Eevee both. Just make sure you're presentable."

"Yes, I get it. I have to look like a lab rat, not some person you picked up off the street." Despite my unhappy tone, I allowed myself to be shuffled off, and Eevee and I walked back to our room. There was indeed a new set of clothes waiting for us on the bed, the pile entirely composed of a neutral grey. I opted for a bath, first, and teased Eevee by threatening him with one. He hadn't gotten over being unhappy, so instead of some sort of frightened or wide-eyed response, I got an unresponsive stare. I shuffled off to my shower.

Neither the water, nor the clothes could calm my nerves. Eevee and I sat, stiff, in the room until we were fetched. But you may have guessed what happens when I'm under stress and have nothing to do. My mind wandered. Now that I had settled the idea of worries that were closer to myself- Eevee and the possibility of losing him- I began worrying about things that seemed further from myself. That is, it could affect many more people.

Team Rocket. I never heard good things about them, and if my brief interactions with them was any sort of indicator, the rumors had been true. They were generally bad, greedy people. The question as to whether I was alright with handing such a powerful device to them entered my mind. So far, in all of the scientist's travels, I was the only one that could use it, and even then only with Eevee. But if my theory was right, and there was acceptance on both ends, then synchronization between any human and Pokémon would be possible. And with the Rockets having first claim to that technology…

I closed my eyes for a second, and saw images of half-human, half-pokemon beings causing terror over the world. All in the pursuit of money and profit, and eventually world domination, I suspected.

I was frightened. The world would change very fast with a technology like this. I wanted to stop the demonstration from working properly, but by doing that, I would stop the scientists from gaining not only their wages, but respect. The satisfaction of knowing they were right about what they had worked on for years was very important. And yet, I could not figure out whether it was worth the terror that would wash about the world if a force like Team Rocket had control over it.

In the end, I decided, quietly, that Team Rocket could not have this. But how would I accomplish this task? For a very long while, it seemed, I sat there in my room and contemplated it while Eevee sat at attention on my lap, letting me pet him and play with his fur. The door opening interrupted my thoughts, and I was far from finished creating a working plan. The Rocket grunt escorted me to the waiting area, where the final touches were being applied.

* * *

**Shieb:** Again, worried things are going by too slow, but I figured the 'omg, it's Team Rocket' thing would make up for it. ;) Didn't I tell you there would be explosions? Well, things are kicking off with a little action in the next chapter, let me tell you!

I tried putting a cute little table with all the Pokemon she has at the moment (as the team will be growing) on here, but even when I edit the HTML, and it looks successful (biggest high ever!), it won't save once I'm finished (biggest cry ever). If you're more into pictures and that whole thing, you might want to read this on Blogger, where I have a little more creative room, and different commentary. Go to **_http)/pokesync1)blogspot)com/_** and replace the ) with a colon and periods. :)


	5. Chapter 5

Blaziken, Eevee, and I waited nervously for the time in which we would be called forth. The machine was placed in a large arena of sorts, and I noticed there were targets set up. While I had hoped to finish my plan for destroying the Synchronizer, I soon realized that not only was I supposed to sync with Blaziken, but we were to use powers attributed to Pokémon. I looked for the woman in charge of the machine, but I couldn't find her before we were shunted away to a waiting room. There I sat in stunned silence. How was I supposed to make all of that work? With luck?

I twitched nervously as I heard a loud voice on the speakers that were in each room. It was official at first, from a voice that was very much for the radio. Apparently, there was a crowd watching, and the announcer didn't forget to remind everyone that Giovanni was there as well. I wondered if I could see him beyond the lights. Maybe he'd be in his own little box of reflective glass, separated from the rabble and able to see all of them, while none could see him.

Under the stress, it was only Eevee that kept me sane, finally giving me affection while my muscles slowly tensed. Finally, I had had enough, and time was running out. I stood up suddenly, accidentally forcing Eevee from my lap, and turned to face Blaziken. He stared at me, startled by my sudden movement.

"We don't have much time before we walk out there. Trust me when we're in the machine. It'll be scary, but you have to bite down on it. Allow me to borrow your power. This has to work."

Blaziken narrowed his eyes. He suspected there was more to my statement. With a sigh, I forced myself to continue.

"You'll have to teach me how to use your abilities, so we can impress them… They have to be focused on me. I'll tell you the rest in the capsule."

This was insane. I was suddenly very aware of the fact that I was fifteen. Of course, most kids went on a Pokémon adventure at ten, and did a lot of damage. That didn't make it any easier. I wasn't an adult. I hadn't been taught to deal with high-tension situations, and there was no handbook on how to prevent a large, powerful group of people from destroying the current world order. Despite this, I knew that this still couldn't be allowed.

The announcer quieted, and I heard the voice of the scientist who was in charge of the entire creation and running of the machine. It was nice to hear her voice, but now it did little to calm my nerves as she explained the basic concepts of the Pokémon Synchronizer, or PokeSync. The noise only served to remind me to force myself to relax. I tried to convince myself this was an everyday thing. As usual, I didn't want people knowing how nervous I was.

The voice changed again, this time explaining that a Pokémon and a human would be demonstrating. At this point, the doors slid open. Both Blaziken and I looked at the arena, lit bright for all to see. Anxiety ate at me again, but Blaziken moved forward in place of my hesitation, and I was quick to follow. While the announcer kept talking, we made our way to our marks, were checked over one last time, and then it was said that we would finally be demonstrating.

I tried glancing through the crowd, and saw Giovanni almost immediately. He sat separate from the others, in his own section. He wore a suit of orange, with a tie of red, and seated next to him was a Persian. The red jewel on the Persian's head reminded me of something, and as I turned to proceed into my proper area, I saw it. Although I had seen it many times before, only now did I remember the red jewel that was between both capsules had been regularly attended to. It was extremely important to the way the machine worked, and hadn't even the woman in charge said something about it during her part of the opening speech?

Quickly putting together the rest of my hastily-made plan, I stepped into the capsule alongside Blaziken. No camera could have handled the atmosphere inside this thing, so no one was watching us. They were all watching the outside walls, and that gave me a little comfort. I put my hands on the handles and relaxed, letting my mind slip into that hyper-sensitivity so that I could share the rest of my plan with Blaziken. He was startled, surprised, and even began rejecting me. Then, as he found the images of what I imagined to be a possible future, he quieted. The machine had slowed as he had begun panicking, but now it sped up again, and the noise grew to such intensity that I was certain the fusion would work. We accepted each other, and what was deemed necessary.

This change was different. With Eevee, I could constantly recognize becoming smaller, and fluffier, and even feeling the hairs on the inside of my ears tickle. But with Blaziken, I grew taller, and there was a warmth that rushed over my skin and seemed to kindle something inside of me. I can only theorize that it was that heat that gave me an extra boost of courage.

With the process done, the machine slowed down. I had no problems letting my feet touch the ground, but had to force my hands- which looked more like claws now- to release from the handles. I needed to stand tall in front of the people, make it look like nothing was wrong.

The scientists were right in front of the capsule to help me stand and manage, but found that I was standing tall, and refused their help, dismissing them with a wave of my scaled hand. I stared at it for a moment, surprised at the change, and was interested in seeing an array of reactions from the scientists. Some of them looked like they would cry, and others were just in awe.

As I stepped down from my capsule, I caught sight of myself in a mirror that someone had been sly enough to set up. My hair was blond and full, waving now and again in the residual heat I was giving off. My eyes were a sharp amber, and my grey shirt had turned red and yellow. My sweats were replaced by wide-bottomed things that felt like jogging pants, and I was barefoot. I was glad to see at least my feet were normal.

Blaziken stepped out of his capsule, a little shaky, but fine. We looked at each other, and I decided to test the new connection we would share while this was in progress.

_'Are you okay with this?'_

There was a pause. Then I got something back, which I had trouble translating to words, but the message was clear enough.

_'Yeah. What are they going to do to me, anyways? It's better than _that_.'_

We faced the crowd and noises of interest, whoops of excitement, and gasps of surprise. I walked around the limited area a bit, allowing everyone to get a good view. It was nice to be tall, I realized, and then dismissed the thought in favor of the current circumstances. While I showed off, and there were announced comments of interest being blasted through the speakers, I was trying to figure out how I was going to use Blaziken's abilities. He had been born with these things, but me? I had to learn from scratch in the next minute. He tried giving me sensations and thoughts to feed off of, and out of curiosity, I raised my bird-like hand and focused the heat I felt in my body there. A small bit of flame leapt up, licking the air for a brief moment.

"And now, for the next part of this demonstration! Not only can you merge with your Pokémon and look as badass as this," (I really looked that badass?), "but this wonderful machine allows you to utilize the powers that the Pokémon have. Let's start with a simple move, shall we?"

I was moved into position, and Blaziken and I stood side-by-side, facing the targets. I was nervous, but I had to show something. Blaziken was made to do it first, something that seemed to bore the crowd, but through our connection, I could feel what he was feeling, thinking, and doing. Now we had to do it together. I moved like him, sucking in a bit of air for an Ember. I could feel the heat gathering there, and tried to focus it. Feeling a rush of energy, we both let go, and the Embers shot the targets in front of us. I was thrilled.

It was hard not to get lost in this demonstration. Everyone was cheering, and though not everyone was so polite about what was going on, it was nice to be the center of attention- especially since, right now, I was just the kid merged with a Blaziken. Once this was over, I could blend right back into a crowd. At least, that would have happened if I wasn't on a mission.

There was to be one more demonstration. Blaziken was apparently pretty high-leveled, and knew a devastating fire attack. He knew what he was supposed to do, and mentally tried to teach me again. This time, he would not be demonstrating first. I decided to seize the moment. Through the connection, Blaziken understood my intentions almost immediately, and became stiff for just a second. Then he relaxed, and as we looked at each other, gauging each other, he nodded.

We faced towards our targets as the announcer talked. The noise was brief, and then everybody was waiting on us. This was it. Now or never. Blaziken and I both gathered our strength, prepping up a pretty powerful Flamethrower. I could feel things beginning to drain on me, but I pushed myself, not only focusing the heat coming off my body, but pulling it from inside me, somewhere near my stomach, and forcing it to come out. At the last second, Blaziken and I turned, each aiming for an area the scientists weren't, and let loose. The Flamethrower let loose with a roar of flames, and the machine started sparking almost immediately as we melted wires and vital pieces.

Once the move ran out- and it did fairly quickly- everyone was shocked. The scientists began scrambling to reclaim what had just been lost to them, rushing towards the machine, though it wouldn't allow them. Some started walking towards Blaziken and I, a threatening look in their eyes. Blaziken responded by tossing sand toward our enemies, and then gathering up heat and releasing it. The move created a fairly effective smokescreen, but it wouldn't last long. The dust covered everything, but I felt a hand on my arm, guiding me towards the machine. I recognized that it was Blaziken.

We made our way to the middle of the machine, and with me weakening by the second and blind, it was up to Blaziken to slash the area around the red gem without hurting it and take it along with us, out of the smokescreen. Then we were running outside, and when I noticed that my lungs had stopped burning, I tried opening my eyes. Everything was blurry, and my eyes itched, but it was something. We were running towards the room we had waited in before, and suddenly a new urge overtook me. I wanted Eevee back, and so when we were approaching the door, my body acted automatically, jumping and twisting so that my foot smashed into the heavy metal doors, and pushed them clean off their hinges. Eevee came leaping out of the dust, and I gave him a hug.

It was strange. I realized that Eevee's mind was completely silent. I had lost the connection. Looking at the fluff ball's face, I saw that he was extremely worried about something. Perhaps he, too, worried over the loss of our connection. Though I sorely missed it, we had bigger problems. There were Rocket members swarming in from every direction, and I could hear the boss shouting for us to be captured and imprisoned.

"Let's go." I said, running. I didn't know where we would go. I just found a door, and Blaziken broke it down. Then we were running along the halls, getting lost in a huge maze. I was beginning to stumble and fall. Finally, I had to rest. Blaziken was left defending Eevee and I, something I wasn't too happy about. To free up his hands, he tossed the stone over to us. Eevee fetched it, understanding it was important, and returned to me as if to offer it to me. I didn't want it, but there was no reason to refuse it.

"Thank you." I breathed, as I took it, and felt quite a shock. The warmth I felt from being merged with Blaziken suddenly reverted to a startling cold. Colors changed, and I felt physically less capable. On the other hand, whatever had been draining me was gone. I caught sight of my hands, and found they were normal. Presumably, so was the rest of me, and I could only think that it was that peculiar red stone covered in wires and mechanics.

I almost dropped that most precious stone because of the force of an explosion that went off so close to us that my ears were ringing afterwards. Me being tired had given the Rockets a fair amount of time to rush out of their seats and start to surround us, and now I had to force myself up to my feet. I was unsteady because of the explosion, but I forced myself to stand, and search for a way out. At the moment, there was only one hallway that wasn't chalk-full of quarreling humans and Pokémon, so with a shout I directed both Pokémon to rush down that way.

Surprisingly, despite my fatigue, I was actually kind of upset that I wasn't synced with a Pokémon at this point. I wondered if touching Eevee would have the same kind of instantaneous reaction touching the stone had, but a part of me really didn't think that was it. It wasn't exactly like I had the time to test things out, either. Waterguns and Flamethrowers were being thrown at us from around every turn.

The worse part of the escape attempt was that we had no idea where we were going. Blaziken was lost, and Eevee and I had never even been here before. Eventually, we somehow managed to lose our pursuers through a haze of someone's Smokescreen and sneak into a very clean room, which luckily had two doors. Cautiously, I checked the next room over, and it didn't seem to open into anything drastic. There was a very upset-looking Croagunk in the room, however, and he caught sight of us fairly quickly.

Probably curious about what all the noise was about, he got down from the little table he was supposed to be waiting on and trotted over to us. I decided to go through the room and out the other side, as it seemed to be a fairly safe option. As we passed by, Croagunk asked some sort of question, and Eevee responded by saying something short- probably telling the other Pokémon to move. Croagunk did not take this order well, and huffed with his hands on his hips for a moment before pursuing us, shouting about something.

Almost the entire group responded by turning around and telling Croagunk to hush in some form. He was surprised by the collective reaction, but maintained his frown afterwards. Despite us moving through a series of rooms- which were eerily empty- Croagunk still kept followed us, having hushed arguments with Eevee. I finally had to turn around and tell Eevee to be silent, and he refused to talk back to Croagunk for the rest of our run.

Finally, the series of rooms came up against another hallway. I pressed myself up against the wall, like I had seen done in movies, and peeked through the small window. I saw two Rockets rush down the hallway, and then turn out of sight. No one seemed to be coming from the other side of the hallway, so I slipped out the door, made sure to let the others through quietly, and then we all ran the opposite way the Rocket goons had been going before.

"All forces run back to the docks! They're close to escaping!" Screamed the intercoms.

Cameras. How could I forget about those? I saw one as we turned a sharp corner. I was beginning to wonder why the Croagunk was still with us, but he kept running forward with the group, a determined look on his face. We couldn't worry about the extra company anymore, and by a stroke of luck, we turned a corner and were running next to a set of windows, which were viewing the 'docks'. Now, if only I could find a control room, maybe some buttons might do me some good.

Despite the ongoing hallway, we finally came up against three doorways. Out of impulse, I opened the one to my left, and found there was another group of people there. The explosion from the Pokémon blasted all four of us back, and through the door behind us- and straight into a control room.

With a groan, I tried to regain control of myself, turning over slowly and feeling a sharp pain on the left side of my head. Despite this, I pushed myself up. Glancing back to see where the enemy was, I saw Blaziken squaring off against a group that was bottle-necked in the doorway.

We needed a way out, first, and so I took a look at the control panel that was before me. It was all full of a lot of buttons and junk that I didn't really understand, and some had very small labels punched into the metal next to the buttons. At a few guesses, I pressed a few things, to various effects. The big red button did the most, though, opening a lot of doors. At a glance, I recognized that we were still above water, which was great. At least I had a place to land. Now, I just needed to highjack a ride. A few more buttons later, and I recognized a countdown and a dock number. I hadn't even seen it before, but now it seemed I had two minutes to get to something somewhere. B4. I needed to remember B4.

The damage done, I turned to look at Blaziken and call him back. Despite my shouts, he wouldn't budge, and seemed to just find me annoying, even calling back a couple of times on his own. Croagunk watched all this with interest, but a bit of anxiety. Suddenly, Eevee butted his head against my leg, making me take a step further from Blaziken.

"What are you doing?" I asked, understanding, but not believing. It was extremely rude to just leave Blaziken here, where who knows what would happen to him. But Eevee just hit me harder, nearly making me trip, but getting the point across. As I turned to head out the other side of the room, Eevee shouted back to Croagunk. I'm not sure what Eevee said, but Croagunk leaped off the control panel and raced after us.

There was even less room to maneuver now. Rocket members were coming out of the woodworks, and I had to get off the hallway path entirely, breaking through the glass wall just to land in some unsteady netting. Ignoring the stinging on my arms, I managed to retain my balance and get up- something that was undone as Croagunk finally jumped. As I got to my feet again, I had to rush along the netting, jump, and land on the catwalks below, something few of the Rockets had gotten to yet. Eevee landed beside me, and then Croagunk behind me. Checking to make sure everyone was with us momentarily, I took stock of the situation.

B4. We had to look for B4. Running between lots of boats and aircrafts, it was hard to catch sight of anything. After finding out where the labels were, however, it was only a matter of logic that lead us to B4, which turned out to be a fairly small boat, and we barely got on board in time, what with the clock and the people trying to trap us through all these runways. I had to toss Eevee on deck, because his paws weren't made for rope, but I got up quickly enough. Croagunk hesitated on the ground. Eevee jumped on the side of the boat, and called down, what seemed to be encouraging words.

"Well, come on! You wanna get out of here, you better come now!" I shouted, thereby giving Croagunk permission on both our parts. Croagunk started scrambling up the rope, Rocket members closing in on all sides. He nearly got caught while three loud rings pointed out the last seconds. I wondered what was going to happen. A slow lowering? The ropes hook in? Either way, we'd have to fight off more people and Pokémon desperate to find their way onto this boat. Then I noticed the net disconnecting, and I got a very bad feeling in my stomach right before gravity thrust it into my neck.

It took me a moment to register that we were falling. Croagunk was hanging onto the netting for dear life, and I let out an involuntary scream before suddenly silencing myself. My feet weren't even touching the floor of the small boat anymore, and I was hugging Eevee with a death grip, his eyes becoming as big as plates.

As I looked down, I recognized that we were falling fast, and that the miles of distance the island had obtained was being covered at great speed. In another minute or so, we would hit the water. I could move so that I was diving, but then I'd probably go too deep down, and maybe drown on the way up. And that was just if I didn't black out on impact with the water. At the height we were falling from, water was like concrete. Plus, what were Eevee and Croagunk supposed to do?

Desperately, I was wishing for help. I didn't want to let go of Eevee, and so I opted for going out together, if we were going to go out at all. Croagunk finally let go of the netting, and 'swam' his way through the air to me, reaching out a hand. It took all of my courage to unfasten one of my own hands from Eevee's warmth and take a hold of Croagunk. We were all in the same disaster, and it wasn't right to be cold to Croagunk, even if I was terrified out of my mind.

As the water got closer, I closed my eyes compulsively. It would be over in a flash, and I didn't want to see it. Then I felt an impact, first on my butt, and then I flattened out from the force of it. At first, I waited to feel us plummet into the depths of the ocean, but then I realized that there was a strong breeze against my face, and I heard a very shaky 'Vee…' from right next to me.

Curious, I opened one eye first, and then another, and I saw that we were on the back of a Mantine. Because I was curled up, I fit. The length of this Mantine, from one side to the other was about six feet. All of us sprawled out barely fit here, and our weight was making Mantine fall quickly, but I saw land somewhere in the distance. When we finally hit water, it was much gentler than I had originally anticipated. I turned onto my stomach and held on to the front of the Pokémon's fins, and Eevee and Croagunk copied me. We all watched the area ahead of us, watched the landmass slowly grow up into the sky, the mountain that cleaved the land always looming in the distance.

Hesitantly, I looked behind us. The mountain of a flying island hadn't moved in its sky, but there were a lot of lights and things on, and it seemed like they were dropping more boats into the water to look for us. I could just barely see the remains of our boat, which had broken upon impact with the water. I shivered to think what would have happened if we had been with that boat. At least it was night time, and no one could see us.

Mantine was nice enough to swim right up into the shallows, where we three got off and waded our way to the shore. We turned to wave goodbye and say thanks before the Pokémon disappeared into the water again. Then we were left to stare off into darkness. there were little lights blurring across the surface of the water, darting about to search for us. With a sigh, I looked further about, trying to figure out where we were, and then I caught sight of something entirely different. There was an Absol at the top of a nearby cliff, and it was staring straight at me. My eyes locked with its red ones for just a moment, which seemed to span an eternity, and then it turned and left, its white fur glowing in the darkness, and then disappearing.

I stood there, frozen to the spot. It wasn't out of fear or some sort of ground-shaking realization, but there I was, akin to a statue. Eevee stared in the same direction for a little while, having caught sight of the Absol, and finally started pawing my leg to get my attention. I looked down, blinking as if I had woken up, and then glanced around. Team Rocket would find us if we just stayed here on the shore, so I turned to face into the forest that led further inland.

"Alright. Let's go find a place to rest." I announced, and began walking up the pathway. I would have kept walking, if Eevee hadn't hesitated halfway to the top of the hill. I stopped a couple of steps later, turning around to see what the fuss was about. Eevee was looking at Croagunk, who seemed a little nervous.

"Vee." Eevee said, almost as an order, it seemed.

"Croa. Croagunk." The bipedal frog returned, first as a reprimand, and then as some nervous statement.

"Vee." Eevee shrugged, and trotted back up to me, waiting to continue on.

I glanced back, viewing Croagunk. As far as I knew, he used to be a member of Team Rocket. He had followed us less because he wanted to, and probably more because the idea of a bunch of angry Rockets was far more intimidating than me and Eevee. Now he was having a bit of a crisis, weighing the options. He didn't know us, nor have any reason to like us, but on the other hand if he returned to the Team, he would probably be reprimanded. The better option was obvious, but it would still be strange for me if I had to make it. With that in mind, I called back to Croagunk.

"If you want to come with us, you can." I said, and Croagunk turned away from the water to look at me in the dark. "I'll try and take care of you. At least, until you find a better option."

There was a moment of hesitation as Croagunk stared at me without blinking. It was a bit awkward, but the moment ended fairly quickly, and he ran forward, coming up level with Eevee and I. I thought I saw a smile on those froggy features, but I wasn't entirely sure of it, myself. Still, we moved on.

There was no chance for a fire this night. If the Rockets figured out we had gotten onto dry land, the fire would lead them right to us, so I was somehow fortunate enough to find a hollowed-out tree with no wild Pokémon preoccupying it, and curled up in there with the other two Pokémon for the night.

By morning, the loudest thing we could hear were our own stomachs. I was afraid to touch mushrooms and strange plants that I didn't understand, but Eevee was fortunate enough to have a good enough nose to pick out berries and such for him and Croagunk. The two were wary of each other, something that I found amusing at a distance. I did not partake in Eevee's generousness, however, as the first time he handed something over, it was very sour, and I wasn't all too fond of the berry. I did, however, find some apples later on, and we shared them.

It was strange walking about the forest and hearing the hum of life. There were Pokémon cries everywhere, and something was always moving. It took me a bit to become relaxed in this environment. I was raised in a city all my life, never once really living among the Pokémon. Even when I was young, I was kept around the docile Pokémon around the farm. Out here, you couldn't be so certain. Regardless, we weren't jumped the whole time we walked along the path, and finally, a town came into view.

The place was huge, and Croagunk obviously didn't want to go in. As usual, I gave him an option, but walked on. He ended up following us again, though he was nervous. We were all tired, Eevee resting in my arms, but I knew we needed directions.

Apparently, we were in Jublife City, and Canalave wasn't all that far away. Relative to the rest of the land, anyways. We were pointed in the right direction, and then started walking. A few hours later, we stumbled to the docks. While most trainers were made to surf their way across, it was obvious I was incapable of such a thing. A friendly fisherman offered to take me across the water and to Canalave. I thanked him, got in the boat, and tried not to fall asleep.

The rolling of the waves was soothing, but I never really fell asleep. Croagunk had, for some reason or another, managed to stay with us for the entire trip. Why he was still here, I may never know. For the entire trip, I had kept a hold on the item I had taken. Somehow, it was still with me, despite recent events, and it had been clenched with a vice grip in my right hand ever since.

* * *

**Shieb:** Didn't read over this like I should have, so beware an unusual amount of mistakes. :/ The last review told me I needed to better write the details so people know what's going on, so I'll be doing that while you guys wait for your next chapter, due next week. ;)

In the meantime, I'd love people's opinions about this fic. Anything can help, and even comments that might not be meant as a plea for change can cause me to try and make this better. If you think this version is better than the Blogger version, let me know about that too, and why.


	6. Chapter 6

We made it to Canalave as the sun started setting. I stumbled out of the boat, and thanked the fisherman. I apologized for not being able to pay him in any way, but he said he understood. The look in his eyes told me he pitied me. I couldn't figure out why. Did I really look that worse for wear?

Quietly, I walked through town, jumping at every sound. Horrible things leapt through my tired, troubled mind. What if the Rockets came to my home town, and they were just waiting for me here? Maybe they hadn't caught on to that idea yet, but maybe they had. If they had, I worried that my mother and Gale might be in trouble. Still, I couldn't bring my tired, heavy feet to move any faster, and so I stumbled into my house with shaking hands.

Once the door opened, I surveyed the living room and the kitchen from the entrance. It sounded like nobody was home. There was no movement in the darkness, and so I beckoned the Pokémon in, and closed the door behind us. We all made our way slowly upstairs, and then I left the Pokémon to their own devices. I needed a shower. Badly.

Upon entering the bathroom with a new set of clothes, I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I really did look different. My eyes weren't sunken with the look of someone who had been in the wild a lot, but there was dirt on me, and my grey tank top and jogging pants weren't in the best care anymore. Neither was my hair, which looked frayed and wild.

The warm shower water was like a godsend. It began to relax my aching and complaining muscles. I wasn't certain just how far we had traveled, but I was feeling it, and I had a suspicion that I would feel even more tomorrow. Regardless, for the moment I was scrubbing every inch of dirt off of me, until I felt just a bit raw. Once I was satisfied that I was at least cleaner than before, I changed into the new clothes- a full set of day clothes, just in case I needed to wake up in a hurry- and walked back into my bedroom. I intended to collapse onto the bed and curl up next to Eevee, but I saw someone at my doorway, just staring at me in disbelief.

It was my mom.

Something overcame me. I didn't know I had been suppressing so many emotions, but in a moment I rushed over to my mother, and we were embracing each other. I didn't hear the noise of other people, so I was sure we were alone. It was all the better, since tears started streaming down my face without any sort of warning. Under normal circumstances, this might have been embarrassing, but right now all I wanted was the warmth of something familiar, and if there was anything that would give me the comfort of safety, it was being hugged by my mother.

In a moment, I realized that I had been so very afraid. Yes, I had been brave, but bravery was doing something despite fear, and now it was overwhelming just how strong my emotions had been. I was tired, and scared, and not just for me, but for my mother. Although I never wanted to leave this hug, for all its warmth and safety, I recognized that if I stayed, I might put her in danger. They couldn't threaten me with her if I wasn't there to be threatened. So I needed to leave. But in the meantime…

Mother held me at arms length, one hand on my shoulder and one on my cheeks, drying the tears that were still coming without my bidding. She looked worried, but at the same time happy. I could only guess that she missed me, and my coming home in the middle of the night had worried her.

"What's wrong, honey? Are you okay?" She asked quietly, gently.

I felt a new wave of emotion start up more tears, and it closed off my throat. I swallowed and tried to gain control of myself, but I couldn't talk, so I just nodded. Eevee had jumped down from the bed at this point, and came up to me, pawing my leg to check and see if I was okay.

"And what about you, sweety? Are you alright?" My mother leaned down to pick up Eevee. Eevee let himself be pet, but looked towards me, worried.

Trying to control my crying had pretty much stopped any attempt at breathing, and so I took a gasping breath once I realized that I was starting to calm down. It was a slow process, though, and I knew I wouldn't be able to say much right now. Not only because of my emotions, but because of the circumstances. How could I tell my mother I had just pissed off a major criminal organization?

I took Eevee from my mother and began messing with his fur out of habit. Mother watched me quietly, trying to discern what was wrong with her all-seeing gaze. I loved my mother for her patience and clarity of thought. It was something I still needed to develop, but at least I had time. At least I thought I had time.

"I, um… The job didn't turn out how I thought it would." I said finally. My mother nodded her head and looked around, eventually escorting me to my bed so we could sit down. Croagunk moved aside, watching what was happening with a sort of wide-eyed, curious gaze. He was drinking in our interaction, and I noticed he was holding the red stone, too.

"What happened?" My mother asked as gently as before.

"Um… Well, the testing and stuff was as normal as it could be." I decided not to share the specifics about what the machine did. "Things got weird when I found out who the sponsors were… They're… Not nice people." I avoided her eyes for just a moment before continuing. "Anyways, I just… I couldn't… The technology in their hands would have been… So I…"

I paused here, trying to figure out how I was going to say this. Mother seemed to think I was having another emotional upheaval, and so she started rubbing my back. Eevee was curled in my lap, keeping me warm. His fur wasn't as soft as it usually was, and my fingers ran into the occasional twig or dirt clump, but I was slowly picking them out.

"I can't stay." I said finally, skipping the entire explanation. I looked at my mother, seeing how she would take this. "I'll stay the night, but I need to leave."

She watched me quietly, trying to decide whether she was alright with my decision. As much as my mother had originally tried to get me out and journeying, I knew that she still cared for me, and that she still wanted to protect me. It was nice to know that she cared so much, but it was because of how close we were that I needed to leave. Mom was like an open nerve, and it wouldn't take much to cause pain.

"Alright." She said finally. "You do what you need to do."

I nodded, promising: "I will."

"You all look very tired." She moved a piece of wet hair away from my face before turning to smile at Eevee, and then at Croagunk. "And it looks like you've brought a new friend. Hello!"

Unaware of Croagunk's awkward situation, the woman waved a greeting. Croagunk just stared at her, apparently confused about something. This seemed to glance right past my mother, however, as she got up from my bed and walked to the door before pausing and looking back.

"I think you're all hungry."

"Mom, it's like, midnight." I sighed. I was more exhausted than I was hungry. In fact, as I thought back to the day I had just experienced, I only remembered a culmination of colors and noises. I didn't really remember anything with real clarity, only a numb need to get home.

"I'll make something small, then."

Croagunk stared after my mother, apparently very interested in what was going on. He turned to Eevee and blinked (finally), asking some sort of question with his croaky voice. Eevee answered with a tired word and a nod. Croagunk went back to thinking. Soon, my mother returned, however, with two bowls of Pokémon food, and a plate of food for me.

Eevee jumped off my lap, crouching at his food bowl without hesitation and beginning to eat. Though tired, we were all starving. I hadn't had the time to take anything of mine with me while we were escaping, so I hadn't even had food for them. Croagunk hesitated, but mother and I motioned, inviting him to eat.

"There's no starving in my house." Mother said somewhat firmly, but with a smile. This seemed enough for Croagunk.

Mother sat next to me again as she handed me my food. It was leftovers from the week I had been gone, but I didn't complain. The small piece of chicken was juicy, and the vegetables nearly made me cry. It hit me just how much I was going to miss her cooking. Even though it was a small portion, it filled me up fairly quickly, something I think my mother saw coming.

"Thank you." I said when I was done. The Pokémon were full fairly quickly, as well, and managed to climb onto the bed, somehow, their eyelids drooping.

Mother wasn't done paying attention to me. I was tired, but I didn't mind her company, and I was embraced again, my head nestled right below hers. She rocked me back and forth, and though some part of me protested at being treated like a kid, the greater part of me didn't mind so much.

"You know, I always knew you'd be a strong girl, if only you gave yourself a chance." Mother whispered, breaking the silence.

"Trying to help you wasn't strong?" I asked, the sting of insult dimmed by my lethargy.

"Not that kind of strong. Your father was the kind of man who became strong by making others strong. He told me he hadn't gotten to that point before he learned to be strong on his own. You were trying to skip a step." She said with a smile and a kiss to the top of my head. I smiled tiredly.

"I guess I'm not as strong as I thought it was. All it took was the sight of my mother to make me start crying like a baby."

"You'll always be my baby." She assured me, again with mixed inner reactions on my part.

There were a few more moments of silence. I tried to think on what else should be said before I went to sleep. Was there anything I had forgotten? The image of the Absol flashed clearly in my head, and I went stiff for just a moment before relaxing.

"Remember the story you told me about my birth? How there was a Pokémon watching over me?"

"Yes. There was an Absol that watched you as you were born."

I was silent for a moment. So I hadn't forgotten. It had been an Absol.

"Tell me about it."

My mother paused, no doubt wondering what brought on the question. She was already worrying so much about me. What else could go through her mind that would make things worse? I hadn't asked about the Absol since my childhood, since before the house had burned, when I could barely muster a full sentence. My sudden interest was, no doubt, a red flag.

"Well, Absol wasn't there for just that night. We had seen him before, wandering at the edges of the farm. Now and again, we'd catch sight of him in pastures or with the other Pokémon. None of them were spooked because of him, but we were worried. We only caught glimpses of him, but we knew what an Absol usually meant."

"What's that?" I asked before she could continue. Mom sat up, and I regretfully pulled away from her warmth. I was much calmer now, so I could handle sitting on my own.

"An Absol is called the Pokémon of Disaster. You usually see one right before a natural disaster happens. Most people seem to think that they cause it, but that's just a superstition. Absol actually are there to warn us of the dangers."

She was silent for a moment, looking at my window as if she could see beyond the drapes, out the window, and through the night to something else.

"Your father was quick to call him a good-luck charm." She said with a small smile. "When nothing happened to the farm, he kept saying that Absol was keeping our farm from being destroyed." Then she shrugged and smiled. "I let him have it."

"And… when I was born?" I asked after a couple of moments of silence.

Mother looked at me as if she was reluctantly stirring from some sort of deep thought before continuing.

"Well, it was the day of a miracle." She spoke with that sort of soft affection that mothers had. "We were so proud to have you, to see you in the new world. And then we looked up, and we saw Absol again. We hadn't seen him for a few months, and so it was surprising. There was something different about him that time. He stared at you, and I thought…"

She trailed off, and then went silent. I tried to be patient, but found it wasn't coming easy. I was tired and sore, and if I was going to remember any of this, I had to make an effort to stay aware.

"You thought what?"

Mother stirred from thought again with a deep breath, and looked at me, smiling. She pulled me in quickly for another hug and a kiss on the head, and then stood up.

"It's unimportant."

"Mom! You can't do that! That's like a bad cliffhanger in a movie!"

"Then maybe later I can tell you more. But not tonight. You all need rest and quiet. Good night, dear."

The door closed, shutting out the light from the hallway. As long as I was here, it was the only light that had been lit, so my room was very suddenly dark. I sat there for a couple of moments, fussing over the lack of an ending to a story. It seemed like had been something important, too. Then I looked over and saw that Eevee and Croagunk had already fallen asleep. With a sigh, I admitted to what my mother had said. We needed sleep.

I moved Eevee from where my legs would go, pulling him up next to me so we could cuddle. He barely stirred, and I felt Croagunk move against my legs before my own awareness started to fade. My last thoughts were of Absol. What had he been looking for?

* * *

Morning did not come for me. When I woke up, the light was tilted away from my bed, on the other side of the room, signaling that it was the afternoon. As much as I wanted to rest more- my body was still aching, and my head seemed fuzzy- I knew I needed to get up and move on. One night of rest was nice, but it was dangerous to push things. With a sigh, I turned to put my feet on the ground, and heard a soft thump as Croagunk's head hit the mattress.

I sat there for a couple of minutes, taking in my familiar room and all the things I liked about it, and realizing that I wouldn't be able to see them for a very long time. I was going to miss this place. That was kind of funny to me, since before it had almost seemed like some sort of prison. Now I had a duty to leave, and I didn't want to.

With a jolt, I remembered why I couldn't stay here. Looking around, I found the stone fairly quickly, still covered by Croagunk's hand. Carefully, I pried it from his grasp, trying not to wake him. I needed to take this thing with me somehow, but it couldn't be obvious. With a brief glance around my room, I finally got up and approached a small, disused jewelry box that had a thick carpet of dust gathered at the top. Opening one small drawer after another, I finally found the one full of broken or pendent-less chains. After a bit of wrestling with them to untangle them all, I finally found one that was far too long. Perfect. I slipped the chain through a hole in the wiring, tested that nothing would give way, and then put my head through, letting the new 'pendent' fall beneath my shirt.

Again, I stood still for a couple of moments, trying to figure out what to do next. From behind me, I heard a small squeak, and turned in time to see Eevee's adorable yawn, little canines extended in his pink mouth. Then his mouth closed with a click, and he blinked blearily at the world before him. When he caught sight of me, he stared at me for a moment before a small 'Vee.'

"Good morning." I greeted, smiling.

It was then that the extent of my hunger hit me. It seemed to hit Eevee as well, since he jumped down onto the floor, stretched, and proceeded to finish off the bowl that had been laid down for him the night before. Croagunk seemed to wake up as well, with a loud, frog-like 'Crooooooa!' as he stretched both his arms outwards before collapsing into a hunched sitting position. While they pondered over their food, I heard a loud grumble from my own stomach, and realized I could smell food.

As I always had, I found my way downstairs, following the scent of food, and found my mother in the kitchen, cooking grilled cheese sandwiches. My mouth watered. Mother looked up, and a smile was on her face as soon as she saw me.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" I asked.

"Decided to take a day off." Mother nearly sang, turning to place the sandwiches on their respective plates. I noticed there was only two this time, instead of the usual extras. Unsure what to make of it, I looked up at my mother as she continued. "Family is more important."

"I won't make a habit of it, I promise." I smiled, thinking it rude to interrupt her life.

"I wish you would, once in a while." She said with the same encouraging gentleness that had enveloped me just last night.

We sat down to the kitchen table as Eevee was hopping down the stairs, Croagunk awkwardly trailing behind him. The sandwiches were divine, and my stomach did anything but quiet, apparently rumbling with happiness at the treat. Eevee wanted up on my lap, but I wouldn't let him while I still had food to take care of.

While eating and telling Eevee 'no', I looked about the house and almost immediately noticed the things scattered about the living room's coffee table, and the bag set aside. My mother caught my look and smiled, rising to take my empty plate from me. While she took them to the kitchen and placed them in the sink, she talked.

"I figured you would need to be ready. I didn't know when you'd need to leave, so I decided to pack the basics. Do you have time for me to point some things out to you?"

I allowed mother to show me a few things. Most of it she had gone through once before, when we were shopping. The only thing that I hadn't really known of before was the Pokedex. Mother was quick to point out that it was an older version, hoping to stave off my inevitable fun-making. I couldn't help a few comments, however.

"Yes, your mother's old!" She shot back at me. "Now pay attention, or you'll be like old people, incapable of using any sort of technology."

"I think it's a bit slower than modern laptops, but I get its basic function already." I droned, already sucked into pressing buttons. Mother fumed.

"Could you not break it?"

"Is it really that old?" I questioned, pretending to be innocent.

"Then why I tell you something you don't know!"

"Yes, please tell me why there are only Pokémon from a completely different region here."

"We used to live in another region, that's why. Now, the way a Pokedex works is that when you encounter a Pokémon, the Pokedex will pull up basic information on them. This is a fairly old version, but it should still work…"

Brow furrowing in thought, she took the machine from me and tapped a couple of buttons. I leaned over in time to see the words 'Progress Deleted' flash across the screen.

"Hey!" I protested.

"You need to have your own record of your journey." She said, handing it back over to me. "It's unfair if you get to add my progress to your own."

I paused, and then looked up at her again. She noticed it, but was kind enough to ignore it until I stared for a little too long. Then she looked back at me, one brow raised.

"What?"

"Are you okay with deleting your progress?" I asked, voice level.

"Of course I am! I'm not letting you cheat!"

"No, I mean. It's your progress. That was a little bit of your history you just got rid of. Are you alright with that?"

There was a flash of surprise on her features. Then she got a big smile and leaned over, kissing me on the head again. Feeling much less emotional than the other night, I appreciated this gesture much less, but said nothing against it. I still loved my mother, even if she was a little insane and clingy, yet trying to kick me out the door at all costs.

"Yeah, it's okay." She said softly, and then her voice changed suddenly to something much more brisk. "So, is this everything? Or do you have time to go through it all, know what you have, and maybe throw in a few more clothes you'll actually like?"

"I'll do that now." I smiled.

* * *

**Shieb: **Still going through and editing things, as I recently moved and just got my internet back yesterday. _

I want to thank all the wonderful people who put in their reviews. I'm glad to hear that people are interested in this- not that the abundant views weren't enough as it was! I'm going to be making some changes in the chapters to make things better as a result.

Also, in case you missed it before, this story is also up on Blogger, if you like the more personal and colorful approach to stories. Go to **_http)/pokesync1)blogspot)com/_** Replace the ) with dots and colons, is all. :) Try it out if you want. I update it at the same time as fanfiction. While that version doesn't have these after-chapter comments, it does have other information on the side and little profiles that I, sadly, cannot put on fanfiction... :(**  
**


End file.
